001into order. Madame clerk, Mr. Pible >> here. >> Mr. Ricard >> here. Mr. Farooq >> here. >> Mr. Hedgepath >> here. >> Miss Rizzy >> here. >> Dr. Harris Muhammed >> present. >> Mr. Burke >> here. >> Mr. Jafari, Miss Fernandez >> here. We have a quorum. >> Thank you. And now we'll um have the pledge of allegiance and moment of silence led by Mr. Jafari. >> Mr. Mr. Jafar, would you please pick up your microphone and keep it on while you say the pledge? Thank you. >> 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. and now we'll have our translation services announcement. Good evening everyone. On behalf of the language justice team,
002we welcome you. If you need interpretation from English to Spanish, please come see me. I will be at the table in the back with the interpreters. We have interpretation headsets for anyone that needs one. Interpretation in Spanish is also available for those watching this meeting through Zoom. I will now make the same announcement in Spanish. Thank you. Gracias. >> Thank you. And before we move forward with the adoption of the agenda, I believe there are two amendments. >> Thank you, Madame Chair. I move to amend the agenda to include item 4.05 receive for first read fit for kids safe routes to school resolution and include item 3.07 receive for first read resolution for annual maintenance plan and adopt the agenda as amended. Second. It's >> been moved by Mr. Perl and seconded by Mr. Hedgeh.
003Madam clerk. Mr. PL. >> Yes. >> Mr. Card. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hedgep. >> Yes. >> M. Rizzy. >> Yes. >> Dr. Harris Muhammed. >> Yes. >> Miss. Berg. >> Yes. >> Mr. Jafari. >> Miss. Fernandez. >> Yes. Motion passed. Okay. Um just want to make an announcement. The resolution for fit for kids will be under um the document will be under 4.01. May I ask whether resolution for the annual maintenance plan will be housed so people can follow along. >> We have copies of that in the room right now and I will have to determine a spot and I will let you know where that's most appropriate. >> Appreciate it. Thank you. All right, with that being said, moving right along to dreams for RPS update. Receive an update on
004RPS strategic plan. Good evening. Uh my name is Luke Costetter, the director of enrollment placement and planning. I have my colleague Melissa Tracy, manager of enrollment, placement, and planning. and we are thrilled to share an update tonight on dreams for RPS specifically around our implementation and progress monitoring plan. As with every dreams for RPS update that we will share have shared uh and will share around uh progress monitoring and implementation, we want to start with a reminder of our values and principles for the work. And of particular note tonight, we want to talk about transparency. We're excited to be sharing our action profiles this evening uh and in particular the measures of success for each one that will allow um of course yourself on the schoolboard and the public uh insights into how we're doing
005and where we aim to go with the work. Melissa will share more about those measures of success in a moment. In a previous update to you all, we shared that each action uh within each priority will have an accompanying profile. This profile is a highle overview of the work of each action for the public to understand why are we doing the thing and how are we going to accomplish whatever each action is. Each action is going to be guided by a project plan that'll keep us organized and allow us to promote more streamlined progress monitoring both internally and externally. We're excited to share that all of these monitoring structures uh save a couple that are still in de development are underway. We're in the midst of building our schedule of action specific and uh dreams
006for RPS top 10 goal aligned um updates to you all on the school board for the next 12 months. So we'll be sharing those strategically as it aligns to the season uh wherever the work is. Um we're having our first quarterly update meeting of this school year uh with the leadership team in October and are excited to be doing that in a single day format. So, we'll be able to share all of our um progress around each action with the leadership team in a cross collaborative format. And then action leads continue their weekly and monthly check-ins uh and updates both with members of their own um priority. They have priority meetings each month um and then are working cross collaboratively in other ways as well. Since the last time we shared an update, we've launched
007this plan. action leads attended workshops to both craft the profiles that you see in the following slides and worked on project plans which are underway though I think it's fair to say those will never be fully finished as they're organic living documents that will adjust um as the work continues to evolve. We're eager to hear your feedback on the profiles and are currently working on setting targets for each of the actions measures of success which Melissa will share more about later. Um we continue working on those project plans as I said um they're living breathing documents and working on more um and evolving the cross collaborative ways that we're um working with one another on this work. Um while the final bullet says that um the implementation uh of all project plans is next up.
008Um it's it's fair to say that implementation is in full swing. It's just that some strategies and actions um haven't taken um effect yet as you know there's a sequence to some things but um all of the actions across the plan um have begun in terms of the implementation work. I'm going to uh turn it over to Melissa who's going to provide an overview of the layout of the action profiles which in the following slides are organized across each of the priorities as we can see in this table here. Thank you. Um, so what you'll see over the next 25 slides is the highle planning information for each streams for RPS action. We won't walk through each individual action because that would take a while. Um, but I want to share more about the categories
009of information included on those slides. Before I do that, I do want to say thank you to all of the action leads who have been working really diligently over the last few months on all of this and all of the other planning documents that we have for our PS. At the top of each of the action slides, you'll see the number, the name, and the description of the action. And immediately below that, you'll see the why, which further identifies why the action is important and what we hope to achieve. The measures of success are the two to three implementation metrics that we'll be tracking and reporting on over the next five years. This is a new structure that we've added to for this strategic plan compared to the last plan. And we're excited to be
010able to quantify our progress for each action in addition to the top 10 goals for dreams for RPS. You'll see here on this slide our principles for those measures of success, namely that they're quantitative, they're outcome oriented, and they're based on existing data sources as much as possible. Additionally, where feasible, we've aligned the measures of success to the top 10 goals. But this new structure also allows us to include measures uniquely specific to the action and its strategy. What you won't see here just yet is the data itself. As Luke shared, we're currently in the process of calculating baseline data and setting both five-year and annual targets for each action measure of success. And we'll be excited to share an update on that in the near future. We also know that there's a lot of
011data that we could be tracking for each of these actions. Um, and we can't track it all. Um, but we are going to be um tracking and reporting on these top measures for each action. Um, and depending on when that data is available, it'll be either quarterly or annually. So, for example, we can track so scores or satisfaction survey data annually, but we can track things like the teacher vacancy rate or chronic absenteeism each quarter. Finally, at the bottom of each slide, you'll see the implementation strategies which detail how we'll implement the action. Most of these strategies were also approved by the school board in October with some slight tweaks to the language. Using this information, we have mapped out implementation milestones or benchmarks for the next five school years. We did this by thinking
012strategically about the stages of implementation and what tasks we need to accomplish each year. These milestones are also then what we use to create those detailed project plans um in which we identify the specific tasks, target completion dates, individuals responsible, collaborators, and completion status. In our standing progress monitoring meetings, both monthly and quarterly, we're reviewing these project plans to help keep us on track with those tasks that we've outlined for each strategy. What we've already noticed and are excited about in the creation of these project plans, the many opportunities that exist for connection and collaboration across the actions. So, for example, 1.2 with 4.3 and 5.1, 3.1, and 3.5. really excited that our monitoring structures provide us with both time and space for folks across offices and departments to collaborate as we continue work forward.
013Again, I'm not going to review each individual slide, so I'm going to jump to the end. So, as we continue uh implementation of each of the dreams for RPS actions, we'll be sharing updates with the schoolboard and with the public. Each quarter, we'll share an update on the implementation status for each action. And we're collaborating with the communications department on website updates so that we can also share information through that avenue as well. Additionally, each month we'll highlight one action for the school board to provide a more in-depth update on our progress. And as a quick preview for the next couple of months, um, in October, we'll share more information about action 2.1, which is zero teacher vacancies. In November, we'll share more information about action 5.1, which is the facilities master plan. And then
014in December, we'll share more information about either action 3.1, student mental health, or 3.2. Um, and at this point, we'd love to hear your feedback and be happy to answer any questions that you have about the process itself or any of the specific uh action. >> Miss Burke, >> thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you both so much for uh this extensive report. I'm glad to see that it's in writing in terms of being uh I can barely see the print, the the color of the print. you all the only one but I do see it um outcome oriented and I also look forward to receiving the data as you share so thank you so very much if it's here before me I haven't read it so my question is you stated of schedule per
015se as to what's going to be expected to be reported each month but I didn't hear anything regarding uh you said mental health I'm going back to the reading piece, the academic piece. Did you state in what month? >> So, we haven't fully scheduled the um the monthly updates for each action. And I think defer to the superintendent and leadership around when would be most timely, but the way we are thinking about scheduling is we want to make sure that every action gets an opportunity to share before we overlap in most cases. Um, and then aligning the presentations to when makes sense based on data availability um or other things. And um, Superintendent Cameras, I'm not sure if you have anything to add to that. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, we will be reporting
016out on resolution at our next. >> Thank you so much. Let's keep the main thing, the main thing and that is student student outcomes. So that's our driving force. Yes, we need to hear all the other mental health in particular, but I my main thing is because once we get behind academically, it's hard to catch up. So the more we hear that data in terms of we just want to I just want to see us keep it flowing as it is and not go backwards because that can happen. But if it's before us, we inspect what we expect. So I look forward to seeing that data data data data on reading math the whole gamut. So thank you so much for that and I'm looking forward to the next meeting >> Mr. Hedgepath. >> Thank
017you Madam Chair. Thank you very much for this report. I'll concur with my colleague Miss Burke. U I do have a question about page 12 uh which is the action 2.1 uh zero teacher vacancies. The last strategy uh says that we're going to focus on targeting experienced teachers uh and reducing the new to teaching hires. Uh I would just be curious as the justification to that because I think that there might be some uh real rich opportunities in a balance of having experienced educators and also brand new to the profession that thank you for that question. Um what we'll be doing and we're we have someone taking notes. I think that's something we'd love for the uh 2.1 action lead to speak to more in depth and share a little more about the strategy behind
018that. So, thank you and we'll certainly circle back on it. Thank you, >> Miss Rizzy. Then back to Harris. Thank >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um just a couple of just small questions um or like you know not not too involved. Um, you talked about how this would at some point be correlated with dreams for RPS or will it be like will we be able to I mean I know that you have it you know listed by um you know the categories but like I mean are we going to see the two side by side >> and um to clarify do you mean like making sure that we're aligning the goals themselves too? Yeah, perfect. Um yeah, I think um there'll be we haven't fully designed yet um or fleshed out all the designs for
019how we'll advertise this or um speak to it rather on the website, but I think making sure there is a clear through line um for folks to understand, you know, for this goal if we think about goal seven enrollment, what are the actions that might inform that or are connected to it in some way. Um, so I think there's things to figure out there, but it's it's a great point of making sure we see those connections. Um, and then Melissa, I don't know if you want to share a little bit about how the measures of success uh, not all instances um, but are very aligned with uh, those goals as well. >> For example, uh, for action 1.3 and 1.4 about special education and our multiple learners, um, they each include uh, the reading so
020rate for special education students learners. So we have that kind of direct connection to our top 10 goals. Um but we can certainly make that more explicit information where it's a top 10 goal but a subgroup of that top. Yeah. Maybe some kind of graphic that would help us see. Great. Um and then um under 5.1 facilities um I know just in vacant property committee meetings at least um Mr. pathway had shared that he was going to share his facilities plan in October. Will we now be having that in November? Because you did mention that he would go over this in November. So, you know, I just want to know how that will work with whatever it is that Mr. Hathaway is working on and make sure that they are aligned to. >> Thank you
021for that question. Um, I think right now the I don't want to say set in stone schedule, but the tenative schedule would be we would share that update in November because we'll have a little more substantive work done on the facilities master plan so we can share a more robust update in November. But Melissa and I have worked closely with Mr. Hathaway actually on that. So we'll connect with him and make sure that we're um not duplicating efforts. >> Yes, >> that's great. Thank you. >> We have Dr. Harris Muhammed and Mr. Jafar. >> Thank you. So, I have a couple of questions for actions 2.1 and 2.2. Is there data available? And if so, can the school board have it that describes how many teachers and administrators received a local license to remain in
022Richmond public school? I think we need to tell the whole story. So, we're looking at decreasing teacher vacancies. How many of those vacancies that we decrease by using the local license process? That's important. Um and it it is also value because many of our teachers are not aware that they have that track but then some are for some reason. So what is that lack of communication about coming from the lens your office because that's where it starts first. some administrators are not aware that that is an option that um teachers who struggle to pass the practice, they're not aware that they only need to take it once in order to request a local license. And so there is some miscommunication and that communication is not filtering through all of our buildings. So there is an
023equity gap in terms of retaining teachers and the ability to apply for a local license. two, what does the current data describe um how describe how many teachers of color are hired and retained in RPS? I know that is a push for our diversity um men of color. So, what does that look like? What are we doing? Because I've met many men of color that have applied to RPS and they have not been hired by RPS and they're fully credentialed. Um, I've met several men of color over the summer, um, that are social workers, that, um, have a behavior specialist background, that have a, um, math and science background. I met black I met several black men the day of the back school rally/summerfest that have a special education background and they have a max.
024So, I just want to know what does that look like? Um, and do we have the data to say since we've had a focus on RVA men to teach, what does that look like? What does that track look like? And then my last question under facilities 5.1 um, and this is not a question, it's more of a comment since you all are working with Mr. Hathaway or have worked to um, create or add or revise a facilities plan. I I just would like to see that you all continue to work with the facilities committee um and you know to move some things because one of the things that I know I've heard in the past as a school board member is this is that doing the double work when you have one entity over here
025working on something a policy a resolution to address what we're hearing in the media or in the community but then we're not working with the committee that is also directly working on that. It's just bring it together so everybody can work together in here because I'm sure language is being duplicated when you're talking about facilities. Um so just bring that work together so we can have a transparent um the word that's in this document a transparent process on addressing the same need. So thank you so much for this >> and if one thank you for that um last comment. Um, and then regarding the 2.1 questions, I think those are great questions to tee up to our colleagues in the talent office and have be explored in their action update. >> And so to just
026close out on that, >> 30 seconds, >> um, 2.1 number one is critically important. It is clear that they only need to take the practice once and if they have not been successful and they request whatever our process is, we have to have a process. Whatever that process is, I think also it's clear that we need a policy to match that process because everyone is not aware that they if if they're not successful, what is what is the route? We we just lose them. they go to another division, they get a full contract, and they request a local license. So, why aren't we articulating that information? That's not for you to answer, but I'm I'm just putting that out there. So, when >> Thank you, Dr. Harris. That's >> Thank you, Mr. Jafari. >> Thanks,
027Madam Chair. I'm certain that we're going to certain circle back, and I know I will as I do a deep dive into some of the other material, but I do want to for what you put together. I want to go to uh slide 3.5, action five, and where we speak to the HSL and athletics. And as I look at the wise, uh as as we try to move forward and grasp as much as we can with that, I want to make sure that we're also looking at the the importance of introduction in middle school, which I'm glad to see that this is focusing on. But as we move forward, uh I don't want us to leave out that uh athletics because that's the athletics is the gateway for many youngsters to actually get scholarships, tuition
028and that kind of that's a very critical kind of thing here particularly in our inner cities and their marginalized communities. So I do want to make sure that we are reaching out. Also don't want to leave out the fact that participation in athletics at a very early age gives them command and self-confidence about their bodies and and keeping in shape and that will help us also on the health. So there are other aspects that I want to make sure that we are also bringing out when we're talking about scholastic activity. >> Thanks Madam Chair. >> Thank you Miss Ricard. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, thank you so much for this work. Um, I think the transparency is really important and I think your measures of success, I love that they're based in data. My question
029kind of with the transparency is, you know, there's so many action items and of course you're going to be getting data for them at all different times during the year. So, in an effort to continue to be transparent with the community about the data, what are your thoughts on how often you'll update the data? How will that be communicated out? Will it be in a spreadsheet? Will it be in a document like this? And I know you might still be thinking that through. We're definitely still thinking about what the design of the website is like and the best way to the best way to share the information um and have it be very clear and organized easy for the public to understand. Um what we're hoping to do is that for whatever we can track
030quarterly is to be able to publish that data quarterly and then the things that we can only uh report on once a year that when we have that data available that we make that data available through the website as well. Thank you, Miss Frizzy. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. There is one thing I forgot to ask, and I know that you will provide more information later, but this is a question I get quite frequently from constituents with the high school refresh and the new themes. Will there be opportunities for students to I I guess move like you know are we moving to some kind of open enrollment high school model? I mean there have been some questions um that are in support of it and there have been some people who've been a little concerned
031about it. So will we get more information about how that will work? In short, yes. And excited to share more about passion for learning and um be soon rolling out more engagement opportunities for members of the community to share their thoughts and feedback about that effort. So yes, thank you for that question. >> Thank you, Mr. Perl. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um quick question. Measures of of success and implementation strategies are are tied to each other. Some of these categories, the measures of success are probably a little bit more intuitive than others. An so score is an so score. Um, some might be a little more esoteric. They may change over time. Do we have a method for change management where we'll track that so that we're not moving goalposts and we'll know when
032we've changed that, why we've changed that. >> Thank you so much for that question. Uh one of the things that the action leads have been working on um is business rules for each of the measures of success so that we can internally document what's the data source, what exact formula are we using to calculate that measure and have a way to track if there have been changes to the business rules and if that's something to happen where for some reason we need to change how we calculate it, we'll make sure to publish that information uh wherever we're publishing the measures of success themselves. Mr. Farooq, >> just a quick comment that I am so excited that we are doing this. As someone who's worked in public health for a long time and always goes over
033data, it's not just exciting to have data. What's exciting is that on a regular basis, we're going to be wrestling with it. And there are ways in which the data will make things clearer for us, and there are ways in which the data will not. But just this effort that you all have done to take the awesome responsibility of educating educating our kids and giving us a framework with which to sort of wrestle with it about how well we are or aren't doing. There are so many conversations I have with constituents with parents with stakeholders where without a good framework to talk about how well we're doing it devolves into each of us just sharing our pet peeves. And I really appreciate that this gives that discussion some direction, somewhere to really focus. So really,
034really excited about this and looking forward to continuing this discussion. Thank you. >> Thank you. So most of my questions were already answered. I am really excited about the format and I'm really looking forward to the execution um of all things um dreams for RPS and the strategic strategic planning process. I did have a couple of folks um from the community ask about um we'll go to page 20 um where we talk about um the food. They like to know they were assured that the next part of this process was that they would be able to choose between the different vendors. Can you just bring some light into where we are with that process? Um because they're really excited to get the new menu underway and just want to get a better understanding of that.
035Um, and so I was accosted by a couple of people with regard to that. Thank you. >> If I may, if I may, Madam Chair, I do want to clarify that as talented and um, accomplished Mr. Hosted or Miss Tracy are, they actually aren't the ones who uh, do all the programming here. They're organizing all the information to report it out. And so, um, I don't want to put Miss Parks on the spot, but I but I will say that, um, the top items that the students had selected are incorporated into the menus for this current school year. Um, but we can do a followup and an upcoming um, care and safety update about uh, where those things stand. Yes, Miss Sparks. Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Thank you all. >> Moving right
036along to board business 3.01 receive an update on options for Clark Springs Elementary School. Mr. Cameras. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. So, as we discussed several weeks ago, there are a number of very interesting, exciting possibilities for the future of Clark Springs Elementary. I I hate to be the bearer of um somewhat challenging news, but the the long and short of it is the facility needs needs a new HVAC and any programming that we were to put in that facility that involved large numbers of students or staff quite frankly would necessitate us taking that step before we did. So, as you may recall, those of you who uh were on the board uh earlier know that we had some issues uh during the winter with Clark Springs when kids were there. Mard likely remembers that
037in particular. Um and that's all related to the HVAC system. All that to say will cost about three to four million dollars to make that upgrade in part because it would also require some asbestos abatement if we were to go in and replace the pipes. Given that we do not have a surplus of school maintenance funds, I cannot in good conscience recommend to the board that we spend $4 million on a facility that does not currently have students. And so my recommendation to you, you're not voting tonight, but just for your consideration, is that we in essence hold the building in advance um mostly mothball it while we continue to identify funding sources for construction. Um and while we potentially explore the nent public private partnership ideas that were floated, there's no harm in exploring
038them. And if that could lead to some work on an earlier time frame, fantastic. Obviously, the devil is always in the details on those things. We also think, this isn't explicitly stated in the presentation, but I did want to note we likely could use a very small portion of the facility uh for some of the wellness um uses that Miss Parks had described before, food pantry, a couple of other things uh in a smaller case we could probably manage the HVAC concerns um until a larger rehab was was able to be done. So in short my recommendation is that we um for the most part um in essence mothball the building pursue public private partnership options see what's possible bring that back to the board for consideration continue to advocate for uh the additional maintenance
039funing to eventually of the H5 system and try to do our best to reserve a small bit of space for some of the wellness center activities including the food pantry and other services that Miss Parks had outlined. With that, I'll pause and happy to take any questions. >> No questions. Miss Rzzy >> Chair. Um, as I have um discussed with Mr. Cameras, my community is extremely concerned that that building will sit for a period of time unused. Um, they'd like to see activity there as soon as possible. Um, we're talking about a $4 million gap we have in u renovating this space if we consider broadening or at least expanding open high school, which I don't know if you've seen, but is now the number two high school in the state of Virginia. Um, and
040you know, they have been advocating for larger space for quite a long time. And I see this as perhaps an opportune time to grant that. Um certainly exploring public private partnerships as long as that's done in a timely fashion and along with considering that this could also benefit open high school, I think is what I've been hearing from constituents as the preference. Um and it's $4 million. So, hey, shout out. If the state can give that to us and we can go ahead and get it done now, it would be a wonderful thing. Um, again, we're talking about the number two high school in the state. So, uh, I think it deserves that investment. Um, yeah, that's it. >> Mr. PL, >> thank you, Madam Chair. Um, Superintendent, it would cost us $4 million to
041do the Hback. What will it cost us to do nothing? So, how long will it be before it costs us 16 million, 20 million because of the roof, etc., etc. So, doing nothing obviously costs something in the long term. >> Yeah, I don't I don't have a exact figure. I will say a good portion of the roof was replaced recently. We did do that work. Um, it's more of the internal elements that need to be addressed. I did I confer with Mr. Hathway and there is um a several thousand dollar cost of maintaining the electricity and a few other systems to make sure that we don't um cause any additional damage. Um but we can go back and and look at things like the portion of the roof that may still need to be worked
042on and any other systems and what the cost would be. Um I also just wanted if I may to to M Ry's point. Um there is certainly a great deal of interest in moving open there and and I would happily support that. I do want to note 4 million is probably not the total cost of moving open there. We'd also have to retrofit bathrooms and a few other things. Bathrooms are for very small people uh and not not high school. There's a along with a few other things. So probably north of 4 million. I I do think that's why potentially a public private partnership could could get us there um on a sooner timeline. Um but uh again we'll have to to get to that and see see what's >> Dr. Harris Muhammed and then
043Miss Ricard. >> Thank you. I I appreciate that followup. Mr. cameras. Can we have the same dedication and heart for our adult staff in the Noral building? They're in a building that was a elementary school both of my children attended. And those bathrooms are very much like Clark Springs building. And so, and I spoke of this several years ago as to why they were operating and working out of that building as adults. And it is a full elementary school. So, I'm just asking us the same desire that we have for the private partnership for the Clark Springs space, we need to have the same heart and dedication for our adult staff in Avora Elementary School. Thank you, Miss Ricard. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to echo what Miss Razie said about the
044community in Clark Springs. I know when Fox moved in there, we heard that a lot about how the community was happy the building was being used again and I would hate for it to lie dormant for a long time. It's in such a lovely um lovely area. So, for that reason, I would support a public private enterprise if it fits our needs and works for us. >> Thank you, Miss Burke. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And I'm glad the superintendent gave the recommendation this evening as he did. I'm in full support of that in terms of um not right now regarding um open high or any other space that we're considering. Clap springs is a beautiful setting was a beautiful school, but as it already stated, how much is it going to cost us to
045allow it to continue to just be there? And I think that was a part of its demise because that was a that's where I got started as a teacher. Also, the grounds there. We're talking about six acres of property. I mean, we have schools such as Richmond High School of the Arts that doesn't have a they didn't have homecoming because they have no football home bill, things such as that. So, I I don't know whether it's through props and recreation, but just some means by which to use some part of that building. Otherwise, it's going to go right back to what it did. A lot of money and effort was put into that building for a father and something needs to be in it. Whether it's professional development, whether whether it's wellness, um please do
046not let it state just sit there and be still because it may take us a while to have that partnership during the times that we're in. So my question is number one, just as we did with Fox with the refurbishing, remodeling or whatever, are there grant opportunities since that building was built in the 60s? Is there an opportunity to um potentially gut a part of the building or whatever and get some funding there to remodel and redo the bathrooms, the whatever else classroom setting. It is an elementary setting as stated. So my question is I appreciate the information that's here. However, moving forward, I hope we don't have this conversation again in November or December and the building is still just sitting there. I don't want anybody to get hurt or whatever that we have
047to move there. But the building needs life. It needs life. So my question is number one, can we to look into the opportunity to refurbish or to re um just is a it's um it's an old building. It was an old building. So that's a perfect opportunity to refurbish and do professional development or whatever we decide to do. But please, let's not let that building just stay still and continue to die because that's what happened until they received new life. So, let's keep that life flowing. That's my question. Thank you, Mr. Cameron and thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, we will use as much life as we possibly can into the building given our our current resources. I do think to your point the long-term rehabilitation of the site will come down to grants, partnerships, things
048of that nature. So, we will certainly begin that process of exploration. I don't think it's eligible for historic tax credits like Fox was just given the nature of the building, but we'll certainly >> Miss Rizzy then Mr. Jafar. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I I did want to just reiterate I believe and I certainly don't want to make this comparison or or or like you know create um some kind of this happened this time and this didn't happen this time. But I believe that the state came up with $10 million off the top >> 30 seconds >> to help out with William Fox. And if they can do that, it appears to me or it feels to me that for this caliber of a high school and note um open has never had a gymnasium
049or cafeteria and they're still second in the state. And so it just would seem to me without even a public private partnership, the state could come up with what we need to go ahead and renovate this school and allow us to um offer it to more students, offer the experience to more students. Thank you, Mrs. Jafari. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. When we talk about class, you're really talking about my community grew up right there around the corner when they built that school. Even though a lot of the community around there and the families have changed, it's still a a cherished site. And they the sentiment is that they want the building used. It means a lot to see the traffic coming and going. But on another point, and I'm hearing it echoed from my
050colleagues, we going to have to find a way to to bring that same sense of urgency to restoring Clock Springs and other schools like that that we brought to Fox. And that's an urgency issue. So, whatever it takes, we're going to have to turn over any rock. We're going to have to uh uh just pursue what the public private partnerships whatever we have to do but the whole thing starts with how we approach this and we're going to have to approach it with that same urgency. >> Thanks Madam Chair. >> Thank you. I'd also like to add Dr. Harris Muham go right ahead >> a question Mr. Cameron's um and I know Mr. Cooper is here. Has the Richmond AF fund held or do they have five billion in pledges or 7 million something of
051amount of pledges? And if they do, is it specifically earmarked for a certain program? Is it earmarked for a certain school? Is it earmarked for schools overall in terms of facility maintenance? So that's what I would like to know. >> Mr. I hesitate to speak for Mr. Cooper. Um, but I'll give it a go. Um, I don't believe a that he has that level of funding available and if he did that it's already marked for specific operational programming and not for capital. >> Good evening. I didn't think you would call me up here today, Dr. Harris Muhammad. Um, no, we we do not have um a fund currently for capital projects. Uh, this is something that we've been thinking about a lot. Um, and I think that like that public private partnership, there are some
052I think there are some mechanisms that we can unlock to do some things differently. Um, if that's the pleasure of the board, we're happy to explore further. Um, thank you. Um, just a couple of things. Um, I was very disappointed. I'm very disappointed to hear that, um, yet again, we're kind of faced with some of the same dilemmas that we have with infrastructure issues across RPS. Um, where it just comes down to the mighty dollar. And so, um, I say this understanding that it, you know, none of us today have a check that they can write for $4 million. And so, I know it's not as easy, right? It's easier said than done. Um, but I do still want us to truthfully actively pursue alternatives. I think that I'm very open to a conversation, Mr.
053Cooper about um something where we have where folks can donate towards capital like towards infrastructure. We need it. I mean, we need a lot of resources, funding, grants to secure um not just for the infrastructures that we have in place, but for new schools um particularly in spaces I know in the 8th and 9th where we are busting out of the sames and overpop populated and really need um additional schools. So, I'm very I would be interested in starting that conversation. Um, I do appreciate the thought process and a food pantry. I love the idea um of that. Um, in the ninth district alone, um, 65% of our students are economically disadvantaged. So, I think there would be some benefit in having, um, those resources available to our families. Um, and then also perhaps something
054small along the lines of professional development or um things for family wellness I think would be great um to just kind of keep the pipes running so to speak. Um, and long-term I think that I there's a lot of opportunity. We have five options that were put in front of us. Open high is certainly one of them that I think would be very beneficial, but there are others that we've spoken of as well. And so I don't want us to lose sight of that. Um I think that there is a a large appetite for public and private partnerships at this point. We do have to start looking outside the box um in ways that we can partner to secure funding for for schools. So I would be open to hearing more about that as well.
055And with that we will move right along to 3.02 02 receive for first read 26 uh 27 what am I saying 2026 already that's insane school calendar all right good evening thank you board chair and members of the board superintendent um I am delighted to share with you our 2026 2027 calendar proposal for this upcoming year Um, so I have linked into the calendar our proposed 2026 2027 for both our traditional and our RPS calendars. Um, they are largely the same. If you click on the links um, mostly because there were a few minor edits to make sure that the colors were matching up. I had one was green and the other one was teal. And so I tried to make sure you had the most updated version uh via a link. Um so I
056just wanted to start off to by saying um this was great experience. Last year I did the calendar for the first time. Happy to be doing it again. Um we have some notable discrepancies from our surrounding counties that I wanted to go ahead and highlight that you will see in our traditional calendar. I know that many of our um team members here in RPS have children that go to schools uh to the north, south, east, west of us. And so I wanted to go ahead and flag that, but also happy to chat with you through some other questions that I know that you might have. Um so I highlighted for you the difference um in the days where you might see a student holiday versus a regular school day, half day versus a full day.
057So, I just wanted to make sure that everyone I know it's a bunch of different colors and shapes and squiggles and so I wanted to make it as clear as possible. I also did the same for Chesterfield. You'll notice most of our discrepancies with Chesterfield are regarding their half days. Um, also I do want to point out, I do not have it listed under Henriiko or Chesterfield, but um, on their calendars they have, I believe Yam Kapor is being celebrated on their official calendars on October 21st. I have reached out to my colleagues in other districts. That's actually incorrect. So, um, it is September 21st, so you'll see that difference, but they're going to go back and edit their, um, calendars. So, a little crossount collaboration, cross city collaboration. um for a feedback loop. So
058last year um I presented this to the board and everyone was like, "Who did you talk to?" So I talked to some folks before I brought it to you. Um I held two focus groups discussions that were held on Thursday, August 21st, as well as Friday, August 22nd. We included, as you can see, school administrators, teachers, central office staff, office associates, directors, etc. And their feedback was taken into consideration. So the calendar that you see was not the original calendar that I proposed. Um but through their feedback I was able to come to the calendar that we have. However, I did not conduct a public facing survey. Oh, I submitted this prior to also meeting with our union representatives. Um so our union president um as well as representatives from ELR. Um we had that
059meeting as well. Um I have not submitted a public facing survey but they are ready to go. if that is your so choosing. Um, however, I think that I I made a really great attempt and had great conversations to include as many diverse um parties that were representative um of our constituents as possible. But those surveys are there and ready to launch if that is something that you choose. And then really quickly, some FAQs that I know I'm sure that you have. Why not start the first week in August and in May as we have for the past two years? There is nothing I want more than to say happy Memorial Day. See you later. However, um Virginia State Code prohibits school districts from beginning the school year more than 14 days before the lab
060before Labor Day. Um it is known as the King's Dominion law because children can't ride roller coasters if they're in school. Um so we um so at this time uh unless you file an exemption with the state, we must um have this where we begin the second week of August and release in June rather than letting out. Um and then I gave you a little bit of data around why we are not having those half or early release days that we're seeing in our surrounding counties. um we have a different type of challenge when it comes to chronic absenteeism than our neighbors. And so keeping that in mind um as our bread and butter and putting our children um first, you can see that we see a decrease in roughly 2,000 students who come to
061school on early release days. And while we serve over 22,000, I don't want to list us to look at it in terms of percentages, but for us to look at it as an every student matters issue. So, we do not have um early release days in our calendar except No, we don't. Yes, we don't. Never mind. Uh questions, Miss Ricard, Mr. Hedgepath, Dr. Harris Muhammed. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for all the leg work you put into this. Um, I appreciate no half days. I I agree with you on the attendance. As a parent, I also find them really disruptive. Um, so thank you. The one question I had actually also relates to this year's calendar. Um, I see that for conferences, it's the same color used this year. Um, but for 2627, you've
062put the very important word of afterchool secondary conferences. And we've had a lot of questions in the community of is that the same for this year's calendar? Um >> yes, it is. Thank you so much, Mr. Mard. Um that is um an oversight that we had with our pre most previous calendar and I also received a lot of feedback about that and so I made sure to include that in the calendar. um our amazing um brand and strategy coordinator who does a lot of our graphic design, Miss Adrienne Kern, is currently out on maternity leave and so she does all of our fancy calendar designing. As soon as she returns, I will make sure that we update our calendar so that it says after school for this year. >> Thank you. >> I did all
063of this without you. Bless my heart, >> Mr. Hitchp. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Dr. Greenbell. I really appreciate the work that you've put into this. Um I just have a couple a couple questions about and concerns and particularly about the 200 day calendar. >> Yes. >> Um that it's a lot of time for those kiddos and those faculty members to be in school right at the beginning >> without any break. Counted seven weeks with no break from July 20 to September 3rd. Um I I wonder um is the September 4th holiday uh you know is that a standard holiday now that it's not actual Labor Day like the Monday is is it something that we can move to another time? Um the other question is you know then we go again through
064October and there's no break uh is Indigenous People's Day uh a possibility for uh for some relief for our kiddos and our our teachers. I just wonder about the the mental health and challenges. you know, we I felt like we learned a lot about about mental health during COVID and some of the lessons that we learned about slowing down and taking breaks more regularly. I think we forgot a lot about that. Uh, so I I I just wondering, you know, that that 4-day weekend on se the beginning of September, right, when school starts, can we break that up and share the make it a three-day weekend at another point? That might, you know, give a rallying point to our communities for uh for a break. If if we can't do that in in in in
065ear in August when again when the 200 day calendar is is already under underway then maybe in October dur for that uh for indigenous people's day which uh also the city made a pro proclamation to recognize so we um should you know should be consistent with them uh as well. Uh so just a question if that had been considered. >> Thank you Mr. Hedgepath. Um, I think you point out something that's really great, um, in terms of that long stretch that we do have for our 200 day schools. Um, I will say that at this time the only holidays, quote unquote, that are um, uh, that are on this are what is reflected by RPS policy. Um, and so Indigenous People's Day is not included in our RPS policy, although always welcome to you all
066amending that. Um, and we can also I can definitely touch back with some of our representatives from the 200 day schools, work with our principles to see when would be an appropriate time to give them a break if that's something that their um, administrators and you know um, staff community um, advocated and certainly insert that in. >> Thank you, Dr. Harris Muhammed. >> Thank you. I have a recommendation to consider adding the open and closed dates of Head Start so the community would be aware when that program opens in the in the various schools that house the Head Start. That's the recommendation. >> Absolutely. I will confer with our Head Start team to do so. Also one thing to note is when our lovely Miss Kern returns um after collaborating with my colleague in Henriich
067Go um we I I will be separating this into a parent and students family calendar and then a staff facing calendar. This per the purpose of this calendar is just to get all the dates up there. But and when we're thinking about usability and we have all of our colors and shapes and squiggly lines, it might be really best to separate this into an internal and external facing um document. And I forgot to add that, but I will definitely confer with our Head Start friends um about adding the opening and close of Head Start. >> Thank you, Miss Burke. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Followup from um Dr. Harris. Uh question. BPI and Head Start have the same calendar or do they start differently? >> To my knowledge they have the same calendar. Yes. >>
068So if we include Head Start, can we also slash BPI? >> Yes, ma'am. >> All right. And probably times as well. My other question is or statement follow up from what Mr. Hedgepath just stated in regards to 200 day schools. I really appreciate your reaching out to the principles or whomever because for many of our students that are in those settings. Um school is a safe haven. School is is is meals. We receive meals. Schools um it's a safe environment. Uh so just being mindful that we all need a break. We all do. But I do hope that there's an opportunity especially the time of the month as well. first of the month is different than the end of the month. So, uh, when you speak to those principles as well, I'm sure they would
069not think I know they would think twice having been in that situation as a principal. First of the month is always different than the end of the month. So, whatever holidays we're speaking of to be mindful of our communities of which we serve. Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you. No other questions. I just have um just one bit of feedback. Um the suggestions were were great um from all the colleagues that shared already. Um mine is just more centered around the survey, which I appreciate you um showing the link, but I don't unless I'm overlooking it, I don't see the actual results of how many responded and all the surveys have not been deployed. It was if beyond the focus groups and the the data that I've already collected in terms of the conversations and the
070presentation, if you would like me to deploy them, I'm more than happy to deploy them. Just have not done so yet. Okay, understood. Um, and with that same mind, um, the focus groups, it doesn't list how many. I mean, sometimes we we get feedback, but it's only a handful. I just want to understand does this truly reflect um you know the the the sum of RPS or is it is it a small few? Those details I think really matter when we're trying to determine whether or not we really truly understand um the heart of our of staff and teachers. So that's always helpful to include. >> Absolutely. And I will make sure to share the names of the participants before the end. >> I appreciate that. names and positions >> and I would als I'm
071always open for a good survey um open you know so that we just get it's always good to just get a pulse check because sometimes we can make decisions from you know where we stand and it makes sense to us but we don't always truly um or walk in those shoes of the people who are really impacted. So I think it's always a good idea to just ensure this is a way that they can have a seat at the table so to speak. >> Understood. uh we'll make sure that it makes its way into RPS direct into all of our schools. All right, thank you so much. Great presentation. >> All right, next up we're going to 303 the discuss education collaborative meeting. Um I'll start off by just sharing that um this was an
072opportunity for those who are not aware on August 28th um we were able to sit down as a collective as um a school board um team um with Superintendent Cameas along with Mayor Avula um and um our city council representatives to really discuss um our joint efforts in education really came away excited and fired up about the meeting. Um obviously there's a lot of work ahead of us but I think a good portion of this meeting um truly reflected that there was a need for us to understand the work and the body of work that each represented and this was a great opportunity for us to get other a better understanding of how we are impacted by the budget and the decisions that are being made. Um, so I just wanted to I wrote jotted
073down a few notes just to share and then in a minute I'd like for superintendent cameras to kind of share some aha moments that I think we all felt during um that conversation. But the purpose was to prepare for the upcoming uh fiscal year um Richmond government budget cycle and strengthen collaboration and support of public education. As we know, we do look to work and partner with our city council representatives, but the reality is um the funding needs are way surpassed by what they're able to assist us with. And so this was really an opportunity for both the administration and RPS um to really present highle budget analysis and get a better understanding of what the decision-making process is. Um so the value of the meeting really this session created an opportunity for better understanding
074each other's entities budgeting process strengthen transparency and alignment which I thought was really we brought home um across city hall city council and RPS also to build a foundation for long-term sustainable funding plans to ensure students and families thrive. Um so we walked away with some shared commitments. Um the meeting demonstrated unified commitment to public education. Council um President uh Cynthia Newil called it an impactful constructive gathering that reaffirmed collective action and commitment. Mayor Avoola highlighted the importance of intentional communication and collaboration recognizing the challenges faced by families and teachers. And um we also emphasize that you know Richmond's children depend on multiple cities services and it's um you know the right hand has to know what the left hand is doing because we're in this together. And so I walked away just really excited
075talking to um um President Newil about our next steps. We're already talking about putting something on the calendar um to just continue this conversation. But um overall, I thought it was a great representation um of when we come together that we can truly start achieving some major goals. So with that, I'll send it over to Mr. Cameron. >> Thank you, Madam Thank you, Madam Chair. I will echo um all of those comments. A really great discussion. Let me just highlight a few key points that I think, as you noted, were aha moments for folks in the room. Um first was the need for greater state investment in public education and some detail around the LCI the local composite index which is the state's determination of a locality's ability to pay for education. So um we
076can jump to slide nine. I think this was a big slide for everybody which shows the LCI for some of our peer districts and also the surrounding counties. Um the 0.57 there for Richmond means according to the state 57% of our K12 education should be funded by the local with the balance coming from the state. As you can see, uh, that is higher than Hanover and Moro and Chester. In other words, this is the state's formula saying that Richmond has a higher ability to pay for education locally than our three surrounding counties. And given the excuse me, the nature of how that formula works, I think this was certainly surprising to many folks. As you can see, we are closing in on Fairfax County, which is one of the wealthiest counties in the Commonwealth, let
077alone the United States. So, this was a a big moment of clarity, I think, for a lot of folks. Additionally, if we jump to um slide 14 on the capital maintenance side, uh this jumped out at folks. We have about a $37 million current maintenance need compared to a $2.5 million budget. So, this goes back to the conversation we were having about Clark Street just a few moments ago. Um, and this 37 million uh is captured on the following slide. Fortunately, uh the board uh previously approved use of American Rescue Plan funs to an independent assessment of our facilities and that's where this slide comes comes from that independent assessment about what our needs are for this current year and you can see they are so uh that again I think for everybody in the
078room was very illuminating and helped clarify why it's it's difficult for us to accomplish many of the things that we like to do as its infrastructure given what we actually have funding. And then uh the third element I'll jump to is slide 18. I'm sorry, slide 20, which are some of our known budget challenges going into this upcoming budget cycle for FY27. So we have about $8 million that we used in our current budget, which comes from one time nonrecour. So uh those are not available to us next year. So that creates a hole for us going into next year. We also have about 6.3 million in existing commitments to our collective bargaining partners. That's new expenditures. And then a health insurance increase projected at about $6 million. So altogether a roughly $20 million increase
079in spending that we are already anticipating knowing that it's going to be a tight budget year. I do want to note that the city shared some really valuable information about the city's budget and about property tax revenue and holding assessments um static for the next year and what that's going to mean for revenue and in essence revenue will more or less be and so it is going to be a challenging budget year have to make some decision. Uh we did end on a high note. I think it was a high note. One of the questions we get is what is the funding getting us and I'm just going to jump uh to the actually we don't have the the the new slides which I shared uh but we as I shared with the board and
080has been shared publicly. So results were released at the end of last meeting. We are up again math and reading and science and history two years in a row. Not only that, we're seeing growth for economically disadvantaged in reading that is five times as fast as economically disadvantaged across the state. And our multilingual learners reading are performing at the same level as average and are actually exceeding their performance of their peers. I love and adore and I I don't simply it's important to note that um the public narrative which is sometimes shared that Richmond RPS is somehow less than is simply not true and requires us to dig deeper into the data. And when you do that see that in many cases not only are we not less than but we are more than. And
081I think anybody who knows our kids, there you go. You can you can jazz hands that one. That's right. Um and um again, educators are working hard all across the state, all across central Virginia. But I did want to note that. And so when people ask you where is the money going, that's what you can tell them. Is going to outsize growth in reading. It is going to all these gains that we're seeing in every subject now two years in a row. And um we don't have the official data yet and we're not going to talk about it publicly yet until October, but we have good graduation news coming down the pike, too. So, um there's a lot to celebrate and that's where these investments are going and why these investments are critical and why
082we should continue to be unapologetic about um not just asking but demanding the resources that our students need and that our teachers need to be successful. So all in all, I think it was a a great discussion, a lot of good learning that happened across uh the bodies and um I will note if you'd like to watching tonight, you'd like a good recap did a great article about it in the Richmond and so you should check it out. I think it's an excellent recap. >> Miss Burke, Miss Rizzy, Mr. Hitchback, >> thank you so very much. Um, I too enjoyed and appreciated being just not enjoyed but appreciated being at the table with city council as well as those persons in the audience because when you do this every day and as we come together
083for meetings regularly, we we know the deal. We know the story. When we have the opportunity to tell our story beyond it, people see things differently. My question is number one, what are we going to do to celebrate? Always have to celebrate. Always have to celebrate. And my thought is in terms of I want everyone here to know and I'll share this. We are listed one of the committees that I serve on with the Virginia School Board Association. I always said where is Richmond? Richmond is all over the place. I'm going to share the report uh in a good way, but oftent times we're not seen as the thriving school system that we are. We are making things happen. And I think one reason for that is stability in leadership. Stability in leadership. That means
084a lot. That means a lot because whenever you have changes, a new person always brings in sometimes that's good, sometimes that isn't. stability is there and it's most important. So my number one question is um I want to know what are we going to do with this data? Is this all on social media? Because it should be I mean legally can we do that? I want to put that big orange circle so folk can know they need to vote in November because we have some decisions to make. But if you don't know it and you're not here, a lot of people don't know what we've just seen. A lot of people are not on Facebook tonight or social media or whatever listening. So, I'm glad an article was done, but this information needs to be
085Was it in RPS direct? I didn't read today. It is. Okay. Well, I didn't see it today. Okay. Maybe yesterday either. I don't know. It was a holiday. But my thought with that is this. We need to tell our story because as long as others and I'm appreciate the news media doing what they're doing in our favor, but until we tell our story, others will continue and we will always be at the bottom because history has taught us that it's always good to have somebody above somebody else. But look out, Richmond is going to take over and then some because we have we're showing the growth. So my question is what are we going to do with this wonderful data which the report superintendent cameras was well done. >> 30 seconds. >> Yes ma'am. >>
086Thank you Miss Burke. Um so we have been anticipating this and are very very excited about it. um our director of communications, Alyssa Schwank, um has start drafted our we're strategically planning how we're releasing this information, making sure that we are telling our story, we're telling our story loudly and to the people who need to hear it. Um and we've been working in collaboration with the media to make sure that those story those great stories we're so grateful they write, they also don't appear out of thin air. So, there's a lot of behind-the-scenes work that we're doing. Um and we are very committed to making sure that this is shouted from the rooftops. by and air, land and sea. >> What are we doing national? What are we doing nationally? What are we doing national?
087>> That's also a part of the plan. So last year we had three positive national stories um that came to that were featured about us from RPS. I can resend them to the board if you all would like to see those. But yes, we have both a um key performance indicators this year as it relates to our communications teams um where we're doing local media as well as national media. Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you. >> Um Mr. Cameas and then I think Miss Rizzy was there. I did want to know in terms of celebration. I am told that some years ago when Chimberazzo was very successful, the principal took everybody to the Caribbean. And so, I mean, I don't know if that's something I second that. Is that bad? >> And we've been fully accredited
088every year since. Miss Rizzy. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. So, I have um a comment and then a question. So, um you know, I think definitely, and I don't want to be a Debbie Downer here, growth is good and we need to celebrate it. Um though, when we look at the numbers, we have a little ways to go before we hit state averages. Um um I think the plan will be and this is to you know extend an olive branch to our neighbors. We'll all get to the state average and then we will rise together and then we won't be doing Henriiko or Richmond, you know, I mean we'll all be together and we'll work together in tandem for all of our students. Um the uh question I have and maybe Mr. Stanley could answer
089it. Um what does it look like? What specifically can we request of the general assembly when it comes to holding RPS harmless where the LCI is concerned? >> Good evening, Madam Chair, Mrs. Grizzy. Uh we have attempted some hold harmless budget amendments in the past. They have not been favorably received. the general assembly uh is usually hesitant to provide specific locality exemptions to formula based funding streams. Um so unfortunately we've not had success with that in the past. Um instead we have often talked about at the meeting last week it was talked about that the city receives a pilot of a few million dollars but that pales in comparison to what the actual uh tax value of all the non-t taxable property is which is over hund00 million. So we've thought about approaching it in
090ways like that to help make up some of that difference. But in terms of a holdless for the LCI that has not been favorably received in the past. >> Thank you. So a better route I'm follow a better route would be to look at all of our very valuable untaxed property and make an argument that something should be done for us based on that. >> Thank you Mr. Hitchp and then Mr. Farukq. Thank you, Madam Chair. I concur with Miss Burke on uh uh thanking Mr. Cameras for a solid uh presentation to our counterparts in the city the other day. I thought that was an outstanding job and the celebrations that Miss Burke also said I think are important with the the critical eye, Miss Frizzy, that we all still have a lot to do.
091Uh but I I was heartened by the meeting and I uh you I was glad that we had re reignited that since it had been three years since the bodies have been together. I think that's far too long. Um I'd really like to see us regularly meet if not once a year then more than that. Um and you certainly defer to my colleagues to discuss that u at another time. Um, but there were a couple portions or pieces that I thought that were really important for us to advocate and to elevate for the community. One was about the LCI that's already been mentioned, but the other is the uh 1% tax that could be uh voted upon by localities that would go to capital expenditures for school districts. It was vetoed by the governor this
092year even though it was bipartisanly passed by the general assembly. Um the hope is that that will continue that will be uh brought up again in the next session and hopefully approved by the new governor. Uh but that would would really be a shot in the arm for our needs for capital improvement. Uh we we really need to explore many different avenues as my uh colleagues have already said the state is one of those to fund uh RPS. Uh as we know that budgets are are flat and tapped. Um, but our our needs are not. So, I just want to emphasize that uh we as a as a school system, as much as we possibly can, should be advocating out loud for that 1% uh tax. Um that that could be of course, you know,
093spread out not just with our citizens, but all visitors who come to to the city of Richmond um could be contributing in a way that is very positive to our our our city, right? Is you know, investing in our schools. So, just wanted to highlight that. Uh, thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Mr. Farooq. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I will just address head on the tension we're feeling in these discussions about the needs being many and the dollars being few. And that is a deliberate policy decision that people in power made over the last 30, 40, 50, 60 years. I'll tell you what, the dollars are not few. This is the richest country in the world. Virginia is one of the richest states in this country. And the GDP of the Richmond metro
094area has grown every single year for the last 14 years. And so it is normal in a healthy society to continuously increase how much we invest in our young people. So, I'm grateful to our mayor, our previous mayor, our previous council and previous school board for increasing our budget and as Mr. Cameras and our staff has shown over and over the results of that, the rising test scores, the decreased absenteeism, the increasing graduation rates. But let's just talk about the real barrier, which is that we have a tax structure that was deliberately created to prevent us from robustly funding human services, from robustly funding things that help people. And I think maybe it was Miss Rzzy, but I don't want to put words in your mouth, who mentioned, let's look at taxing corporations. There is
095wealth in this city, in this state, and in this country. So, let's have that hard conversation with our city council partners, with our mayor about taxing corporations. Are we Let's rightsize the our tax system. Are we taxing corporations properly? Are we taxing the wealthy properly? They seem to have plenty of money when election time comes around and they're throwing them at these dark money packs. So, that's my two cents about it and I look forward to continuing that conversation. >> Mr. versible. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, we spend a lot of time evaluating our students as this slide points out K through2 reading, 3-2 SOS, graduation rates. Do we have report cards for the adults, for the politicians? If you didn't make the meeting, I came with some data. So, there is an audit
096report that is provided by the Commonwealth. And in this audit report, there are 38 cities and it has per capita spending. And in areas like public safety, Richmond has managed to make it to the top of the list. We spend more per capita than any other city in the Commonwealth. For public works, we are number three on the list. We managed to find coins in the couch cushion to make it to number three. For parks and recreation, we were number seven. Parks and Recreation, found money for that. Community development, again, we were number one in the Commonwealth. And if you were there, you already know where I'm going. For education, what does a report card say for Richmond, we were number 22 out of 38 cities in the Commonwealth for per capita spending on education.
097Those are just the numbers. That's it. If we could commit, if Richmond could commit not to make it to number one in education, I'd love that. That would be great. If we could just get in the top 10, I did some envelope math. We'd only have to spend $200 per capita more. That amount of money for the population of Richmond would be a little over $40 million or the superintendent cameras slide our CIP budget. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Miss Rizzy. Then Miss Burke. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, since I have been called out, I do want to um highlight the fact that, you know, and I know that um drawing corporations, you know, to Virginia is important and we certainly don't want to turn them away, but our corporate tax rate is
098now at 6% and it's been that way since 1972. And so I do think that it may be time to revisit and think about um you know I mean we talk about public private partnerships those generally involve one time you know for lack of a better way to put it um donations. Um what better way to fund schools than to commit to paying a little more in taxes in perpetuity. Um, that would be a great investment in public education and would show us that our corporations really do support public schools. >> Thank you, Miss Burke. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, seconds, >> excuse me, >> 24 seconds. >> Okay. just want us to be mindful in terms of um at this point knowing with the cooperations and all that we can get out in
099the community and ask for that but at the end of the day it's not a decision that we would make. All right. And number two, um I want us to be mindful uh grief since I didn't know the data that Miss Rizzie just shared. 19 whatever it was >> 72 that's that's one of that's not good. But I also want to speak >> Did you say time? I'm sorry. Did you say time? I'm sorry. Miss Bur said yes time. >> You're going to miss what I was going to say. >> I know it was good too. I know it was really good, >> Mrs. Jafari. >> Thanks, Madam Chair. I don't I think I would be remissed if I did not point out u first of all, I'm just elated about the data. It's all
100I can keep from doing. I'm just so bubbly. I've always been an advocate for Richmond public schools, even before I came to sit up here. always was and continue to be. But I want to point out that none of this is instantaneous. I think colleagues have pointed out that it comes from a sustained work effort from the top. And so what I what I think I need to do and I have to do is recognize uh Mr. cameras uh and prior board members who sit up here, three of which are former chairs. And it's because of their persistent work that you now see the results that you're seeing. Uh again, I point out that none of this is instantaneous. And so I just didn't want anything to pass without recognizing the prior boards who actually
101put their shoulders to the wheel and made some very tough choices. And and while I'm on the subject, we had a 35y year uh Richmond employee, financial department employee, speak to the fact that uh when Mr. Stony, when Mayor Stony was in office, it was the most revenue ever given to Richmond public schools. And so I want to also he gets a lot of discredit, but I want to give him his credit right now because that too is a part of what we're seeing here in these increases. And for those who wonder where the money is going, you're looking at it. Look up here on the screen. You'll see where the money is going. And I take my head off to the administration over there. Uh you guys are doing a marvelous job. Keep it
102up. And I just look forward to seeing Mr. Cameron's dyes hair orange come June. I echo the sentiments of all of my colleagues. I won't belabor the point. Um, but I would also be remiss if I didn't recognize the actual educators, the teachers that are in the classrooms serving our scholars every single day. Our hats go out to them. They are the heroes in this book. Um and so just thank you principles, teachers, educators for all that you do, interventionists, everyone has um you know this result is from collaboration all across the board. Um I walked away from the meeting excited and I am a firm believer and after the meeting I spoke with President Newil and I said when are we going to go across the street? I mean, we're I'm I'm serious. Like,
103let's make some noise. RPS is on the rise and this is the perfect opportunity for us to do it. Matthew Stanley, we will be leaning very heavily on you. I've already mentioned your name in multiple rooms that you were not in because I know that the great work that you've done up until this point um in legislation, I've had a couple principles that I've introduced you to as well that want to be a part of that conversation. So colleagues, if there's um if we have someone that can go with us to tell the story, be thinking about people we can nominate. But I do believe we need to be very strategic about what we do next. And so that's going to be um something that I want to um get feedback from everyone so that
104we can move forward and really make some impact not just from a city level, not just from a state level, but on a federal level. And when we said let's go to DC, let's go to DC, too. Um, the buck doesn't just stop here. So, all right, I'm done. But thank you all so much that we're able to attend. Um, if you've noticed, we've been very strategic in our efforts. We do have a meeting coming up um this Friday, I believe, with Senator Hashmi and the delegation, and it serves the same purpose. we have to just be very intentional about collaborating with those that we work alongside. And so this is another opportunity that um we have um and really excited. I've been working with their team um to ensure that it's a really robust
105uh conversation. All are welcome to attend uh that as well. All right, moving right along to 3.04. Receive an update on board professional development training. I was hoping um that we were I was able to um announce a date this evening for professional development. As you know, we are we do have mandatory training that is required and so all eyes are on me right now. Um I just want to reiterate the importance of this training. Um, unfortunately the October 24th date fell through and so now we are looking at Tuesday, October 28th. I would really really like for everyone to take a stern look at your availability. I know that we do have educators um on the board and so very sensitive to that, but this is training that we have to um to do
106collectively. Um, and there's other opportunities for professional development as well that is still on the horizon. We're literally waiting to get this professional development training done. Um, you know, there have already been some suggestions and of thoughts about what that could be, but we have to ensure that we cover what's mandatory before we do um, you know, something that's optional. So, I would just again strongly ask that everyone really look at that date and um confirm in the next few days. As you've known, every time we kind of secure a date, by the time we get it back to the VSBA, it's already been booked. So, we really have to move very quickly because the year is almost out. And with that, I'll open the floor for questions or feedback. Thank you. Okay, moving right
107along to 3.05. Receive a for first read policy committee recommendations. >> We do not have any this evening. >> All right, moving next to 3 06 received for first three contracts over 100K. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. We are presenting three contracts. Um, one is for waste uh management uh services, one is for building maintenance and supply services. Um, and one is for some educational technology. Happy to take any questions uh this evening or of course you can reach out over email and uh we'll make sure to answer them in time for a vote next. Any questions? All right, have a good night. All right, moving right along to administrative updates. I'm sorry. We do have um the amended agenda 3.07. Receive for first read the resolution for annual maintenance for annual maintenance plan. And
108I want to notate that the resolution document has been uploaded under 5.01. 01 for those who would like to read it. Ali, Mr. Farooq, sorry. Would you like to share? Take the floor. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm pulling it up. So, um, Madame Chair, I drafted this resolution that is just simply calling for the creation of an annual maintenance plan for Richmond public schools. So, as we have discussed at length today and almost at every single one of our meetings, we talk about our facilities, the need for maintenance, um, the constant underfunding. And I know that for myself, it's one of the most common things I hear about from constituents is emails or texts from staff or parents about buildings being too hot or cold or just inquiring when certain things will be repaired. And
109I know that our RPS staff always uh do their best whenever I email them, which is probably too often, asking for updates. They're always very gracious and provide us updates. But I'm sure that we could centralize this into a a transparent public maintenance plan so that people know when the dollars we've appropriated in our budget for capital improvement. We have a basic idea of where they're going, what they're for, and what the basic timeline is. So, I have uh just quickly drafted something here. I know that our staff are already in the process of trying to create something like this. So, I'm very open to uh thoughts, questions, and revisions. Uh and also just also think this is a way for us as a board to show that we take this very seriously and want
110to create something that isn't aren't just updates that we get internally but something that is publicly accessible for our RPS family. So thank you Madam Chair. >> Thank you Mr. Farooq. Um Mr. Cameras. >> Thank you Madam Chair. I just want to note um we have no objection to this. Um as Mr. group noted we're already uh underway putting something or doing some thinking about what this could look like and so um happy to work with the board to make something that is really useful not only for the board but for the public at large. Um yeah, >> Miss RZY then Miss Burke. >> Thank you Madam Chair, Mr. F. I do appreciate this. um as a resolution. Um I mean ultimately what this does is give our facilities department um a task or you
111know a a mandate. Um and that's fine. I mean I know that Mr. Hathaway will be presenting a facilities plan um now it seems like in November just to coincide with um the earlier presentation. Um, and I think from me, and this is just me, I think that that directive could be done in um a motion. Um, or we could just ask Mr. Hathaway to give us two updates. Um, but, um, I, you know, that the public needs to know that we take this seriously is definitely something I agree with. And so I would like to see this resolution broadened to include board actions that will be taken um to also um meet these goals and to um you know help the district with securing what we need to you know I mean the the
112preventative maintenance what do you call it the deferred maintenance budget I mean is incredible and we since I've been on the board have not never been close to taking care of all of the items that need to be taken care of. And so I'd like to see this expanded to include what the board is going to do to make sure that, you know, advocacy is done to help fund some of these repairs that need to be made, have long needed to be made. Um, and so yes, beyond just giving a directive to Mr. Hathaway and his team, I'd like to see this broadened. Thank you, Miss Burke. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I'm in agreement with Mrs. Dizzy at some point to enhance what's in place. Um, our facilities team has done a phenomenal
113job. I would like to hear more from their department before we move forward with this at this point because they are doing the do. I know what I see in the schools, what I have seen in the past with very little. You can call Barbie in the morning, by the afternoon it's done. Seriously, it's no excuse for things not to get done. But so far as being transparent for the community, um I just question the need of a having a um resolution because it's something that's going to be done anyway. We spent it took us about four years to reach consensus just to have that facility study. It took us four years. That was a long drawn out process. And I remember last year when we received it, every board member received it. It was
114out on the on the do board docks. If there's more that we need to do regarding letting the public know, fine. But I, as Miss Vzy stated also, I just want to be mindful of what else we're putting on that department. But I would like to know at some point when they give their com their report from the facilities department how many jobs have been addressed in the last let's say two years. Does anybody know that as we talk about moving forward does does um what's Mr. Patrick's last name? >> Mr. Harold maybe he Okay. Okay. Is that all right? M he comes up. Okay. All right. But I want I want to know I want to know. So you know the answer there. >> Oh my. >> Make sure you go button. >> Yes
115ma'am. We receive about 12 to 13,000 work orders per year. Uh over the five years that we've had our work quarter system. We've had over 46,000 work order requests. We have completed over 44,000 of them. And I say we, I'm only a couple weeks in. So Bobby and team get all of that credit. there an unbelievable team. >> You said 44,000 >> in in how many years? >> In four and a half years when we >> four and a half years. So what's do you know what's left for us to complete that's in the docket to be completed back orders or whatever. What's what's not there? That's a lot. It is we we have a thousand work orders that aren't completed as as of when I checked last week. A large number of those were
116from the start of the school year that we are actively working through. There's a small percentage that are those deferred maintenance items, but most of those are clear down to the work order system. >> Follow up. >> Y I commend our facilities team. So before we move forward, my position is let's hear more from them before um saying we want you to do this when you're already doing it. Maybe it's a different way by which we need to tell our story. But well done to the facilities facilities team. So you're going to have an easy job, aren't you? >> No, ma'am. I will pass that along. Thank you. >> He's up for the challenge, I'm sure. Dr. Here's Muhammad. >> Thank you. I do also believe that our facilities team is doing a great job.
117In addition to this, um the previous board and I know we are months, we're the new team. We're the new family now. But one of the things that I recall in our conversation was not creating resolutions or motions out of actions from the media or the public. And so one of the things that I thought about and I really appreciate Mr. Peru having a forward mindset of how do we address this is that I began looking at it from the perspective of in in my day-today work how do I address the lack of miscommunication for example not meeting or did we not meet did we not complete the ABS report and then if that didn't happen why not like what happened with that and so the resolution doesn't speak to that. So we just have
118to the word of the evening was transparent. So let's be transparent about these are the processes. This is the procedure. We may need to review what processes and procedures we have in place currently because that report or lack thereof did not get out the way that it should have been. the same manner in which we handle the Fox Elementary fire and lack thereof communication. That's the same posture we need to take with this and that is speaking with the facilities team that is speaking with our maintenance team. And so I am in no way saying that um resolutions are not um doable or not needed. That that is in no way that's not what I'm saying. What I believe is that we need to walk in conjunction with because I know a lot of people
119I saw some of the same social media feedback and comments and all of those different things. I would like for us to continue to be proactive and not reactive because we cannot address every negative comment that the media or the community or even our staff state on all these other group things with a resolution and so or with a resolution. So I just would like to see us walk in conjunction with our facilities team with Mr. Um Patrick, I'm sorry. Um leading the wheel and just saying, "Hey, maybe we need a policy revision." I don't know until I know what the process is. And so I think we need to start with that. What's the process and why did the ball drop and can we address it as a board? Thank you. >> Thank you,
120Mr. Jafari. >> Thanks, Madam Chair and my colleagues. certainly appreciate Mr. Baroo again with the forward look at the importance of facilities maintenance. But um I'm going to kind of look at this uh I think somebody echoed it a moment ago to to have two assessments is good to move it from one annually to two is good. But what's even better is to first one uh talk with them, speak with them, but more importantly, let's identify what we're going to do to help him do what we're asking them to do. And I think that's something that's kind of missing here. We need to be able to know, you know, uh if we're going to put more load, more work on him, then what is it going to call for on the back end? And so
121I would uh at this point I would want something like that to be clarified before we move ahead and simply just make a resolution. >> Thank you. Um I'd also like to add I I would agree that there's been a lot of miscommunication out there in terms of um some of the things that have been in the headlines and in in news in terms of um some of the steps that were were not taken. Um, I won't settle on that, but I will say that um, you know, I have really great relationships with with a lot of folks in the facilities and um, I think that they work extremely hard and do a great job under very dire circumstances. I keep hearing a lot of um, concerns about them being um, understaffed and overworked. And
122so I I appreciate um Mr. Farooq's um resolution because it brings awareness to some things that we probably need to poke holes in as a board um and get a better understanding of where we are in hiring. Are they short staffed? Because I keep hearing that specifically. Um, also I do believe that if there's How many did you say maintenance? Um, was it 27,000? 47,000. Um, what systems are in place to keep those balls floating? I think about 47,000 work orders that have been processed over the last 4 and a half years. If there's not some type of systematic system in place to ensure that things are moved along, it's very very easy to lose sight of um work orders and that's nobody's fault. But how can we best support those efforts? Is it do
123they have the right software? I think there's a lot of more questions that need to be asked and I think that the facilities group should be a part of that conversation and getting an understanding of not only um what is working well for them but how can we support them through policy and also by way of the administration and making sure that a structure is sound. I know that for example um one of the reports they hear a report um it was done but they didn't send the report out in a in a timely manner. It's nobody's fault when you have so many balls that you're carrying. It's very easy to lose sight. It's not an excuse. And certainly that's something that we want to look at. It's like timelines making sure that if the
124adheres report is supposed to be out by September 5th, we have that tickler on the calendar. it's out by September 5th, for example. I say all that to say that there's still a lot to unpack here, but I think this is a really good start to a longer conversation. So, thank you for bringing it to our attention, Mr. Farooq, and I think we um can kind of think through it a little bit more and definitely bring them as part of this conversation as facilities team. All right, moving right along. We have administrative updates. 4.01 receive an update on care and safety. >> Not just yet. >> Good evening, Miss Parks. Good evening, school board members and superintendent cameras. Tonight's care and safety is going to do two partner spotlights. Uh for the last couple of
125years, we've focused a lot on our internal teams, but we feel periodically because we have a lot of great community partners that we need an opportunity to spotlight them as well. And so you'll hear about all of our great work with Kexus over the next couple of months. We just launched um today was our very first vaccination fair that we do for our seventh grade and our 12th grade students. We have clinics at each and every one of our secondary schools. But tonight we'll focus on two of our partner groups. We have RVA fit for kids um as well as VCU and and they will um talk a little bit about two things. I was hoping to start with the resolution while we were talking about resolutions. if if it's okay that we go out
126of order. >> Any concerns with that, colleagues? >> Go right ahead. >> So, RVA Fit for Kids has been a partner of RPS for 10 years. Um, yes, this is going into our 10th year. They are excellent partners and they do a variety of things for us. As you know, we kicked off last year our girls flag football team. We have all of our gardens at our title one schools and then we have our safe route to school program. So historically our safe routes to school program was the city and RVA fit for kids in partnership with RPS. This year um VOTE they actually pivoted the requirements. They're a little bit more stringent since RPS is the benefactor of this grant. We took the lead on it. RVA fit for kids will still be our
127amazing partner um and help us with it. And so earlier there was a question posed by you Mr. Pival and you asked about the risk factor. It's actually a low risk factor. We got an email today um and they're changing a couple of things and so we'll actually be able to apply for additional funds which is great um because this is the last year of the four-year cycle. So, beginning in year 2627, it will be under RPS and fit for kids. As a part of the grant application process, we have to submit the resolution. And so, we're asking for your support for that this evening. I know that you will be voting tomorrow night, but happy to take any questions. >> Miss Burke. >> I have a comment. Um I've benefited personally by fit for
128kids ser seriously over the years with um especially during co when we had opportunities to exercise with your families and you always would join them not always as much as I could and then afterwards just the walking from wherever it is in the neighborhood together it's a lot of fun and it also does more than just physically um addressing your needs say, but also mentally because you have an opportunity to talk with people in a relaxed setting with parents and students walking to school. So, I'm so happy to hear I fully support this and I'm happy to hear that this partnership will continue because in an inner city setting where many of our children don't have sidewalks to walk or as I get calls every day, we have to walk through the alleys because we're
129afraid of the streets. So it brings about a sense of community. So thank you for what you're doing and thank you to Fit for Kids as well. Well done. Thank you. >> Can we give Justine who is representing Fit for Kids tonight some spirit fingers. Thank you board members. Now to our Hydray RPS study. Dr. Melanie Bean is just going to give you some highlights of our study. We are actually completed our first year. It is a three-year project over 12 elementary schools and Dr. Bean will come and give us some highlights. >> Parks. Um I'm very excited to have the opportunity to tell you about some of this exciting work we've been doing with healthy hydration in RPS. Um the QR code links to a fun video that we created. Um it we hope
130for wide dissemination of the video to all of the you know parents, caregivers, students, um administrators, anybody. Um I think it's really designed to keep maintain engagement with this effort to really report back on what we've been up to and where we're headed. Um so uh like Miss Parks mentioned, this is a really exciting partnership. FIT for Kids has been our long-standing partner in this work. Um this work also is informed by a very impressive community services community advisory board. Um so that this we formed this board over four years ago. We've been meeting quarterly throughout this duration and everything that we do is really developed by um and informed by our our community advisory board. Um so really this work started when Richmond adopted a water access policy and they installed hydration stations to
131make clean safe water uh drinking water accessible throughout the school day. RPS partnered with our teams to really help optimize healthy hydration within this policy and environment. Um so we conducted as I mentioned a community advisory board. We conducted multiple interviews um with multiple different um parents, teachers, wellness leaders. We partnered with parent and with with student and teacher ambassadors to really evaluate the hydration landscape. Um and then we partnered with students and an advertising specialist to develop some hydration marketing materials which are fun and I'll share them with you today. Um we took all of this great data. We understood what are the needs and the strengths and assets with RPS related to hydration and we developed a community participatory hydration intervention um that um really is designed to address those needs and build
132on strengths. Now we're at the opportunity where after we piloted this we are funded by the National Institute of Health to implement hydrate RPS in 12 elementary schools over three years. um not to go into all of this but we know what water intake has multiple levels of of um of of influence. So we have assessed all of those levels and this is designed to really reach all of those levels. So with these 12 schools um how did we pick them? Um they we wanted all it was uh scientifically decided to have all title one schools. Uh we categorized and matched the schools and then randomly selected them. We were um aiming for dis uh representation across all districts. Um unfortunately district one had no available school at the time um because Fox was switching
133school buildings. So that is unfortunately the one district not represented in hydrate RPS at this time. Um our approach is environmental level designed with and delivered by our community and RPS partners. Um applies all evidence-based strategies. Um and really the the the purpose is to integrate healthy hydration into the school culture with an eye towards sustainability. How can we keep this up when this is over when the funding is over? um just outlined for you here some of the key components of the intervention, social marketing, education and outreach and behavioral reinforcement. Um got some fun pictures and certainly you can check out the slides um if you'd like some more information just about kind of all of the different components but have some pictures of our kickoff um where students all receive and personalize water
134bottles that they keep at school. They learned how to clean those water bottles and maintain them. And they have the opportunity for some fun experiential activities like tasting fruit infused water. Again, some of our fun kids. Um here's some of our cool champions uh with year one. Um and you might recognize some familiar water heroes here um from year one of our intervention. Um important to this is partnering with teacher and student ambassadors. Um so here's just a couple of our ambassadors across some of our firstear schools. We also have a key partnership with open high school students who are trained as health leaders and they come and are peer mentors to our middle our elementary school ambassadors. Um this is just a very um exciting partnership that we are um excited to be able
135to keep up um in future years. Again just provided some information. You can see some of the um components of the intervention but have to show you this one um which is our cool marketing. Hold on. There we go. Okay. Developed with the students. Um really cool superhero marketing. It is so fun. Um these the the messaging, the images, the theme was all really developed with student input um and partnered with a pretty phenomenal um advertising specialist, John Slay. Um and these have been um these are are very incredibly wellreceived by uh students and staff. Um um lastly, um well, I'll skip over some of this. We have some of the these are just some of the assessments so we can see how is Hydrate RPS working. Are we meeting our intended outcomes? Again, all
136of the outcomes that we also are delivering or assessing in the intervention were informed by our community advisory board and our partners about what are things that are important to them. Um, in addition to, um, outcomes important, um, from the scientific literature. So, year one, um, we had a successful year one, as Smith Park said. Just wanted to spotlight one of our schools, JH Blackwell. Here's some pictures from their launch. Um and um what we do is reporting back is a super important part of our you know all community engaged research. So really we report back kind of at this in the spring their kind of their snapshot of how their intervention was. As you can see Blackwell consumed 26,425 uh water bottles um throughout that year. Um really just a they were just a
137phenomenal partner. Um really great student and teacher ambassadors. Um here's another report that we present to the schools. They each get a personalized report in the fall um of the prior year to show them where they are compared to the average of the other three schools who received the intervention that year because of science. We're not allowed to compare to the control schools quite yet. That would unblind us. Um but we can kind of we let each school kind of see where they are just compared to the others in active intervention. And you can see here um consistently increased water consumed from the hydration stations, more likely bringing a water bottle to lunch more often. Um teachers are more likely to um encourage students to refill their water bottles. Um increases in knowledge as well
138as some reductions in sugar beverage intake um in our students. So what do we learn? We're learning a lot. We keep learning. Um one one thing that I think is important is um what helps students drink water at your school? Having water bottles is the number one thing. So, that's been really key. Keep having those vessels, making sure they're quality vessels and that they stay at school, students learn how to maintain them, and we provide teachers with the resources for cleaning them, for storing them, um, and how to how to keep them in the classroom. Um, some barriers are time, cleanliness. You can kind of see these. These are our usual suspects, but I think what's important is that, um, in our intervention schools, access to a water bottle really falls down on the list.
139Um certainly um still have continue to have challenges with that um and classroom procedures have helped overcome that barrier. Um but overall we're really learning a lot about continued things to address in the intervention. Um we also learned that students and staff like it. Um really positive feedback. They they felt they provided enough support. Um and really what we're paying attention a lot of attention to now is how can we take all of this information all this process data and understand how can we sustain this intervention. Um, so we've kind of developing our Hydrate RPS virtual toolkits, all the materials for the schools that they they are their theirs to keep. Um, and really trying to keep the cost down to a minimum as far as um, kind of what the recurring costs might be.
140Um, quick snapshot about where we are. So, we're here um, about to launch our intervention with our cluster 2 schools. So, these are four new schools receiving the intervention. I've had the pleasure of meeting with the leaders at these schools as we're preparing right now. Um and then through 2729 is really when we'll have all of the data from all of the schools and be excited to really be able to report back. Although we'll continue to have annual reports and are happy to share those with you um as we receive them. So what happens now? Um we're reviewing our data with our team and our CAB. We're making some tweaks. We're enhancing the superhero integration throughout through partnership with students. So, we're bringing our um students back for more um meetings um in order to
141develop some cool things around that which I hope to share with you at some point. We also upgraded our water bottles. Um there was a couple complaints about them breaking at times. So, we were um happy to have a funer through the Children's Hospital Foundation who found a corporate sponsor for some um better quality water bottles. Um and mentioned we're kind of reporting back. Um so as far as sustainability and future support you know our overall strategy is capacity building. So how can RPS maintain hydrated RPS with ongoing support of course from fit for kids and VCU. Um and how can we partner with RPS to secure funding beyond this NIH grant. So beyond that 2728 school year um I mentioned we provide this virtual toolkit. We provide all the materials but annual water bottles
142are just going to be recurring costs. I think at the end of the year they really need to go home and that's it. You know, it really should be a year a one year a one-year um use. And again, there are many schools that are not receiving hydrate RPS. So, we're really working on how can we disseminate hydrate RPS to those other schools who were not randomly selected for participation. Um and ultimately beyond RPS, kind of how can this program be disseminated and RPS really be a leader in healthy hydration across the nation. Um just a quick snapshot about what are those costs. This is the funding that we have secured. So um through 20's 2728 school year um the cost for the water bottles are just shown here just for an idea. You can
143remove the tax line because they are tax exempt. Um but just a an estimate that it might be about if every all elementary schools had a water bottle with this better quality one um what the funding might be. And I think we've got a lot of um I've talked to Miss Parks, you know, we have a lot of expertise and experience writing grants and would be, you know, more than happy to continue to partner with RPS about um searching for corporate sponsors. Um I've had many say they'd love to see a their logo on 26,000 water bottles. Um so um although my my requirement is you also have to have a hydrate RPS logo on that. So um again, I've just kind of outlined what those sustainability costs are after that future year. So, not
144including the water bottles. Um, they really are pretty minimal. This is a you could fill in the numbers and it would it would calculate it for the school. I used Lois Harrison Jones just as an example. Um, so about $1,800 um would be the kind of recurring cost. Again, I think very feasible for a small grant um to to maintain that um with some additional costs that teachers liked um which certainly didn't have to be. Um but again, another $400. Um I think that's it. um just really thank you for the opportunity to share this work with you and would be open to taking any questions if there's time. >> Mr. Farooq, Miss Bert, Miss Rizzy, >> good evening. My very quick question is, what was your experience working with the school staff and the
145kinds of adjustments they'd have to make to allow the water bottles, encourage their use, but also then deal with allowing kids to go refill them, allowing kids to pee more often, things like that, >> right? Great question. So, um, we develop classroom procedures in collaboration with our partners about what should be on those classroom procedures. Uh, we train teachers in kind of posting these. This is a laminated with we we provide them a dry erase board where um dry erase marker but we ask them to set classroom procedures based on what what works best for them um and so when to fill it up, when to clean it, where to store it. We actually sell very few complaints um or concerns and um in our process data um and we report those back to the
146teachers as well as tips that teachers are learning about what works well. And then we present that to each new cohort of teachers to say, "Hey, here's what your peers are doing. here's what worked well. Um, and we just keep generating kind of this bank. But it's really been um, some of the biggest challenge are schools without sinks in the classrooms. And so we do provide these caddies. Um and and some really cool ideas have come out of from different leaders and at at schools with which have fewer sinks which about taking you know having identified responsible students as a job and this they take those water bottles in the caddy. You know they designate which student does it and and they work on cleaning them kind of regularly. They do need to be cleaned
147once a week. Um but I'm looking forward to this year. This is our first year where we do have two schools with with fewer sinks in the classroom. So we can really um learn from how to how to iron those procedures out. But overall it's been actually pretty positive. We really did not Yeah. I mean I think I showed you some of the process data. Um but really they were it is it's a policy that they have to be able to pro right to allow water bottles and what we tried to provide is a kind of a structure to make that successful because when they were just kind of having water bottles without the structure it was tough to kind of manage them um in a way that was that worked well for their classrooms.
148>> Thank you Miss Burke and then Miss Rzie. >> Thank you madam chair. Um, on the first day of school at Henry El Marsh, I wanted to know what were the signs of the superheroes all throughout the building. I was very pleased with what I saw. Um, number one, we all know that water bottles really cuts down the traffic of going back and forth, back and forth to get a sip, get a sip. Number two, I often think in terms of many of our children that may walk home or the neighborhoods they live in because of living in food deserts, they're they're privy more so to sugary drinks. So to know that you have water plus your own water bottle means a lot. In fact, at Marsh and a couple of other stu um schools
149when asking students what would they want for their treat or whatever, they ask for water water bottles. So in the seventh district um and I see you just have one school listed that that concerns me. >> Yeah. So I hope moving forward we'll have because we do have six. >> Absolutely. >> All of our love. >> Yeah. >> All of the schools. >> Please. Absolutely. But um United Health has donated water bottles for for all of our students. So Henry Marsh will be getting 600 more than what they asked for in addition to what you're providing. So my last thought with this is I I love the opportunity to um our children seem empowered from what I observe on the first day. In fact, I took some pictures to post. I just haven't had a
150chance to post it. So I love this program and we do need to drink more water. So it makes you think better. You is it's necessary. But thank you for this is I hope it does continue this plan. >> Thank you. Yes. And Mr. Smith's been a a great champion with us and a really great partner. Thank you, Mr. Drizzy. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, even um beyond this grant, I'm hoping that this initiative continues. Um this is great community education. I know growing up, we pretty much only drank water when we were thirsty. That was the kind of, you know, that's what we knew. We didn't really talk about how important hydrating is over um the you know I mean regular hydrating is outside of being when you're thirsty it's way too late
151honestly. Um and because in the black community we are disproportionately impacted by chronic kidney disease and I myself had to be evaluated for it. It is something I think that we really need to make sure um there's a lot of education out um and information around. We need to drink water. Our bodies need it. We're something like what 98 96% water. That's our our composition. So we need to um understand how important it is for our health and especially I think um in our communities where we're so much more likely to develop chronic kidney disease. Um yeah, thanks. >> Thank you for that comment. I will also just note um dental health was a big priority of that our community advisory board um mentioned and we do include dental assessments um as part of our
152evaluation so we can see are we reducing dental carries um with with increasing water and hopefully decreasing sugar beverages. >> Thank you Mr. Jafari. the uh you know we look at the health issues as well and I can remember going to school and don't you put your mouth on that. Don't you let that touch you. So so this if nothing else this definitely takes that out of it. But look um I'm kind of a mechanical minded person. So so I'm wondering um help me with this. I've seen those water those stations where you feel them. take me behind what I'm looking at. Are we looking at filtering the water that normally comes into the building and basically retrofitting the surface of it so that it accommodates the water bottle filling? Tell me about the mechanics
153behind the picture where we're looking at. >> Sure, great question. So, um, part of So, this was not our work. This was RPS's work where they replaced water fountains with the hydration stations. So, the water bottle refill stations, those are preferred for all the many of the reasons you mentioned. Um, kids like them more, you know, they taste better. But they basically do, it's a filter, so cold filtered water comes out of the water bottle refill station. So, you place your bottle underneath it and it senses it and it fills the water bottle up. You still do have a water fountain option on the majority of the stations um for students who don't have a vessel, but we do know that they're really underused. That really having the vessel um is is much preferred and
154is used much more than the water fountain. Okay, thanks for the explanation. Uh, now I understand why I don't see a recurring beef or water, so we're using what comes into the building anyway. >> Yes. >> Gotcha. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> This was a very well done presentation from top to bottom. I mean, this is excellent. Um, I just have and you I love when a presentation answers the questions before I ask them because I was going to ask what does funding look like beyond 2027 2028 and you were on it. So, I appreciate that. We will definitely need some grants, I'm sure. Um, so please continue to advocate for that. Um, you did mention that there were four more schools that you're about to um transition into this um, uh, program. Just
155curious as to what four schools are they are and I'm hoping that three of them are in the ninth. Just >> um our four schools this year are red. Oh gosh. Miles Jones. >> Well, they're already on the list. >> No, sorry. The 12 schools were picked at the beginning. >> Okay. >> So, all of the schools have assessments every year. It's a design called a step wedge randomized control trial. And the reason for the strength of this design is you're able to also look at sustainability in future years. So the four schools who received the intervention last year will continue to be assessed for two more years. So we can see which components were sustained and understand that that process. So this year we've got four more of these 12 will receive it. All
15612 will again get the intervention and then next year the final four will receive the intervention and again all 12 will receive the assessments. So when will you roll it out to all schools? >> So the NIH grant covers these 12. Um and that is what we would we are we've developed our hydrate RPS sustainability toolkit and we're really looking and working to say how what where what are the elements that we need to retain because maybe it doesn't have to look as complex as this although I do think we've simplified it so perhaps we can get cost done even further. Um, and we're just learning a lot about implementation, studying kind of from an implementation science lens. So, we can apply for future grants to see, hey, now how can we roll this out?
157Maybe not as a research study, right, but as a kind of a a program, a community partnership. >> Thank you. Yeah. Job well done. >> Thank you. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> All right. Moving right along, receive an update on staff retention and survey data. Good evening. I'll note that we have a summary at the end of the presentation for all of our individual schools and their data that you can refer to if you have any specific questions regarding that data. I also want to note that we've shared the satisfaction data with all of our principles and my team will be joining an upcoming cluster meeting to speak with them a little bit more and dig into the data uh as needed. Next, I want to share an update on our teacher retention
158metric. I know that teacher retention is a big question that often comes up. I know it's already come up this evening as part of the Dreams for RPS goals that we have. And there's a couple of important things that I want to note around how we calculate retention because it may be a little bit different than other places. We want to make sure that we are benchmarking ourselves against the way that the BDOE has previously calculated teacher retention and using their business rules. That means that we have a very specific cut of data that we use. We look at teachers who appear on the endofear master schedule collection from one year to another to determine whether or not they have been retained or if they have attrated out of the organization. Couple of notes there.
159First off, the end ofear master schedule collection primarily is made up of what we would traditionally consider classroom teachers. However, there are a couple of other groups of individuals that may appear there as well, including long-term subs or folks like our guidance counselors. In this presentation, I'm collectively referring to this group as teachers. But I do want to note that having different groups in the metric does change the way the metric is calculated a little bit. The next thing that I want to note about the teacher attention metric we use is that it is a lagging indicator. What that means is in the current year we are always calculating their teacher retention from the previous year. So as of this presentation we did not have the endofear master schedule collection finalized for school year 2425.
160As a result we are going to present preliminary data that is based on the fall master schedule collection. This gives us a pretty good sense of teachers at the end of school year 2324 who returned in school year 2425. But it's important to note that over the course of the year we have some teachers who do lead the organization and we also have some teachers who return. Once we have the final master schedule collection um finalized, we'll make sure to provide an update on what that data is as well as provide the various cuts of data that I know the board and other members of the community are interested in. Our preliminary data for those who returned in school year 2425 is at 81%. So again, these are individuals who are on the end of
161year master schedule collection in school year 2324 who returned in the fall of school year 2425. As you can see, we have been generally consistent over the last few years. But I do want to note one last thing about this metric that I think is really important. Let's say we have someone who is a long-term sub that's calculated on the master schedule collection and in the following year we actually filled that role with a full-time teacher. That individual is not calculated as retained. They are actually calculated as a trident because they're no longer on that schedule. So, I do think it's important as we move forward with the strategic plan, particularly our action plan 2.1 around reaching zero teacher vacancies, that some fluctuation in this number is anticipated as we ensure that we have all
162of our classrooms fully staffed. The last thing that I want to share with you all is an update on our employee exit surveys. There are two primary exit surveys that we administer to our staff depending on the type of role that they have. The first is a fully external survey that's administered by the Metropolitan Education Research Consortium or MER. This survey is a fully optional survey in terms of the questions that are provided and they are also only distributed to teachers only. So my team tracks when we have a teacher that's leaving the organization and ensures that they receive an email um upon their departure with that link. We also administer the RPS exit survey which is distributed to all employees not just our teachers but all of our folks who are instructional support non-e
163schoolbased staff and central office. This survey has five mandatory questions, all of which are aligned to BOE requirements. And again, these are distributed via email when an employee chooses to leave. I do also want to note that our employee and labor relations team offers exit interviews to employees who are uh leaving and this past year we had 17 employees participate in those interviews. I want to provide some summary data from both the Merc survey as well as the RPS exit survey. We've tried to summarize up the reasons for leaving into a set of categories. And you'll see that for school year 2425, we had 39 respondents to our um to the MC survey. 70% of those who were leaving indicated that culture and climate is their number one reason. Personal is second and then compensation
164and benefits and career advancement is third. For our RPS exit survey, we had 53 respondents over the course of the year. Personal reasons was listed as the number one reason for leaving with compensation and benefits and career advancement second. And finally, employee preparation and support listed as third. I want to note that I'm very excited about the year ahead and all of the work that we are planning on doing around satisfaction. I'm proud to say that I'm the action lead for action 2.5 which is customer service. I know that uh we actually included some questions on customer service in this past survey uh for central office and we'll be sharing some of that data in an upcoming presentation uh once we get to me. Um, but I'm I'm really excited by the work that we've
165been able to lay the groundwork for over the last few years and can't wait to see where we're able to go as we proceed. And with that, I'll open it up to any questions that you may have. >> Mr. Hedgepath, Mr. Jafari, Dr. Harris Muhammed. Oh, okay. Miss Rizzy. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Bishop. very appreciative of of your presentation. The first question I have is and and I apologize if I missed this, but on page three, why is the end size a third smaller from uh 2024 25 back to the 2122? Is there an idea about that? >> Yeah, I think there's a a couple of things that we need to note. Of course, participation in the survey is completely voluntary. And while we do send reminders throughout the administration period
166and also try to do a push for completion, the reality is that year-over-year we have a different response rate each time. I will note um that the staff response rate is up from the previous year. And so I do believe that we had some folks properly align themselves in the correct role as opposed to previous years. However, that does of course not account for the entire amount that you're referencing. So, I I do think that it's a mix of both of those factors. >> Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Followup. Uh, also then I appreciate that. Thank you. The when I was looking at the individual school scores, I know some of these school some of our overall scores are are definitely improving and I appreciate you highlighting that. But there are some that are
167abysmal and that are really worrying me. And I hear that you're you're you're talking about that there'll be cluster meetings that that'll occur and there'll be some breakdown of that data. Um but but uh West Hills Elementary in particular, one of my schools is frightening that that data. Um so I really want to know how are we going to uh how are we going to to to handle that? Um forward I see Dr. Wiggins coming up now. So, uh, thank you. >> Good evening. I'll take some of the program questions. So, I have also gone through all of the data for all of the schools in which I support. And so, there are some that we have concerns about as well that we will be working with administration to really dig a little deeper. So
168we have this um survey that we have but like for some of the questions we need to go a little deeper as to how don't you feel supported like what are some of the ways that we can help you feel more supported or you know for some of as you went through some of the questions do you feel safe like in what ways don't you feel safe in what ways can we help that to happen so even though this data is a great place to start I really want to go deeper with the staff and that's exactly what our principal director s will start doing now that we have the data to be able to go through. Um I have my list of schools, the ones that we want to um help the administrators to
169just see where exactly they can put more effort into working around what the where the people in their schools are feeling a little bit um not seen and so we want to work on those things. >> Thank you. Mafari. >> Thanks, Madam Chair. Uh, Mr. Bishop, thanks for the presentation. I'm looking here and um I guess I'm assuming looking at this screen here that roughly 500 separations is across the entire division. Did we do any comparisons regionally as to what others is there any way that we would know that information? Can we see how it stacks up a ranks as compared to our regional sisters schools? >> Uh that's a good question and I know that u my team has had the opportunity to look into that but I do think having a comparison would
170be helpful. >> Absolutely. We appreciate the feedback as we're looking to expand our work. >> Thanks, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Miss Rizzie. >> Thank you, Madam Madam Chair, and thank you for the presentation. Um, I'm wondering what you're doing to encourage response rates. I I kind of detect a trend that when response rates are above 75, the numbers tend to trend a little lower. There are a few exceptions to that. But um I mean you know when we're getting like 38% that's not really necessarily a good snapshot of what's happening in schools. And in fact there's one that's got a really low response rate and the numbers are like crazy high like 100%. And I'm like okay but that's 20% of evidently teachers in the school. And so I'm just wondering um so that
171we have some measure of reliability, what are you doing to encourage the response rate or what I I don't know who should be doing that, but I'm wondering about how those responses are being encouraged. Um then I had another question that I circled and I don't my notes are getting kind of confusing. So, you looking for your notes if you want me to go ahead and answer that question. Um, one of the things and we have great administrators in our school division, but one of the things that we also noticed is that in some of our schools the percentages are low and so sometimes it's kind of hard to determine um that you know how many of the staff really feel this way. And so I think that's why we really need to go deeper
172and I believe in a feedback loop beyond this that our administration needs to do on a regular basis to hear from their staff and how they feel. One of the things that we also um looked at is um the question that um I helped to make decisions in my school about instruction. That was one of the ones I also want to dig a little deeper into. Um, but one of the things we have not done is really encourage staff like we send it out and we just, you know, those that will do. Um, but I think this year, um, Solomon and I want to join in to like really pushing because I don't think it's right coming from the principal themselves that we need to step in and just kind of, um, really encourage staff
173to, um, really just give their opinion so we can hear from everyone so everybody's voice can be heard. and where our participation rate can go into 75 80 85% more so than 40% 50% because that's just a fraction of the staff and so that is where we feel like we need to step in and also maybe put it in the direct as well um so that they know that it's some we really do want to hear from them >> and I'll add um as we look at some of the secondary schools particularly two of them we've been proactive active and actually work with the new school leader to ensure that they create an environment based on some of the feedback that we heard from staff members as we selected the new leaders. Um, and so
174we've been proactively uh Dr. Waller and Dr. Bale and myself been working with them so that we don't have low numbers and they're being proactive versus reactive. >> Yeah. I mean, I'm what I'm follow um what I hear, you know, people have reached out and said, "Hey, if I fill this out, will people know who I am?" and will I face any retaliation? I think that there's some concern. I mean, I I don't know what you're doing to like assuage people's concerns with that, but um that's definitely something I've heard. Um and then you actually are answering my second question, which was how are you using this data? What will you do? >> Yes. And we every year we um look at that. That becomes a part of the conversation. We talk about culture and
175climate. That's really big for us. It's not just with the students. It is the culture envi um climate of the staff because people who feel good about coming to work, who feel valued, who feel heard will do a much better job. And we always know there's going to be some people who um maybe don't um this is not the right fit and maybe another school or um another neighborhood or another community is better. So, we know we have that as well, but we also want to support our administrators in knowing that we are here to assist them in helping to build that culture and climate. Um, Chief Parks and her team, they do a really good job, not just that, with the students, but we work on building that culture and climate and our principal
176directors also work with um our school leaders in building that culture and climate around the staff. So that's a lot of the work we do and it's a lot more of the work we want to do. Um and making sure that people feel valued at coming to work. That is just a hallmark of people should be smiling coming in and smiling going home. So that's what we are shooting for and in the meantime our students are learning at a high level because that's the other part of it too. >> Thank you Mr. Pible and Mr. Ricard then you can slide. >> Thank you Madam Chair. Um, and thank you for this, Mr. Bishop. Uh, just following up on Mr. Hedgepath's questions. He had almost all of mine covered. Going back to slide three again, in
177addition to the 30% drop and then 25% drop of year-over-year, there's also a missing year in the report 223. >> I believe there was one year where the survey was not administered. >> Okay, great. Thank you, >> Miss Ricard. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, one thing I wanted to bring up that I heard from staff is in pertains to low chance maybe the shrinking end size is that some of them felt that in past years they filled out this survey and it's just kind of gone into the abyss and it's never been reported back to them. They've never seen anything like that. And it might just be that they've missed it. I'm not saying it wasn't done. Um, but I think this report shows that these are the results and I think yeah, if we
178could share this out in the HR or the talented email to make sure that our staff sees it, um, I think when they see the results of their surveys, they will be more likely to fill it out. Um, and then, um, Dr. Wiggins, I appreciate you elaborating on the conversations you're going to have with administrators. I agree that this is just one data point. It's not the beall and endall of how things are going in their schools. Um I think it's a conversation of what truths are in this. What are we missing? What supports you need? Let's also look at teacher attendance in your schools because that will speak to it. Let's look at retention in your schools. Um, all of that I think R like makes the conversation much more robust and not just
179you're doing a good job, you're doing a bad job because of this. And I know those are the conversations you're having and I just wanted to give voice to that. I think this is one data point. It's valuable data point, but there are many other things to tell the story. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. and will continue to um we have in the past we did not want to make it such a huge point that it becomes the center of everything in the school. So we've um tended to talk to the administrators about it more. It has been presented of course to the school board at different times but we can look at the way in which we share it with the staff so they do understand that their voice is being heard. So we will look
180into that. >> Thank you Dr. Harris Muhammad. Thank you. I have a couple of questions um and a comment. When was the master record collection due? Are you aware of that date? >> It was due on August 22nd. >> Okay. Um, and so because we had to pull a data from the 23 24 school year because the MRC was not quite whatever it it could be multiple reasons um that is not whatever it could be multiple reasons but so how is that giving us accurate information on what we need to know, right now. >> So, it was due on the 22nd. They had to go back in and make a few adjustments to it like any divisions do. >> So, the state opened the window up, but we've recently submitted it. So, we can definitely
181bring you back the accurate data from this year because it has been submitted to VO, >> right? That would be helpful. Y right that would be helpful. Um, so we we're discussing it was shared about participation, right? And so, first of all, thank you for this. Um I'm one of the board members that have really been interested on what our staff feels, what they think and um why they stay with RPS and also why they leave RPS, right? And so one of the things that I think um is very important is that how a governance team handle situations of concern from the staff classified or certified doesn't matter how we identify them on record. What matters is how the governance team addresses their concerns and what that process looks like. That is a number one
182stunner of how staff will participate in any survey we put out. So they are watching how we address their concerns. Individuals in any field will just like a young person will they will rise to the occasion if they one know the process and if they trust the process. So if there is any inkling that the process is not equitable across the board whatever we could be talking about delivering textbooks. I'm just saying if it's not the same across the board then they're going to walk away feeling there is no process for me so I am not going to complete that because my voice is not heard. Teachers, administrators, certified or classified staff are the main group of people who use I messages >> I feel. I need I desire. All right. The last thing is
183I recommend um compiling a survey just for central office staff only and separate from building administrators because the work the role the needs are different and when you have everybody completing the same survey your data is skewed. So that's my recommendation. Thank you >> Dr. Harris Muhammed. I think Mr. Ricard you said it earlier. It's really about um we're going to actually have this presented earlier at the cluster meetings. I'm going to give them clear baseline expectations in terms of responding to staff members concerns. Now, if your school has five concerns, you may not be able to address all five at one time. Well, right, but let's focus on two to three and share that data out with folks quarterly at staff meetings and other places so that they do feel that they're being heard
184and that we're also being responsive. Um, and so with that, we will bring back the data because we did submit the master schedule collection. So, we'll bring that data back to you, but also we'll have a clear pro baseline process for principles because we do have some of our principles that give their own surveys like quarterly. Um, and they look at that data with their leadership team and they make adjustments based on it. Um, but we will standardize the process. So, thank you for the feedback. Another thing I wanted to add also when looking at my ele elementary schools most of the ones that are um identified are also ones that are federally identified. So that also shows that it is not just about the school leader, it's about how we in central office are
185supporting those schools as well. And so that is one of the pieces and that is why um we have our team in central office going in supporting those schools first because if we are going to lift them we are going to need to lift them together. We don't want to put a cape on a person and say you're the superhero you go in and save everything. Um when there is a heavy lift it takes all of us to make sure that we're lifted. And so that is where my team um in the academic office is making sure those schools are prioritized this school year. So, I don't want you to feel like it's just the leader. It is also what we're doing to support the leader and the staff as well. >> Thank you. Um,
186I just have a few thoughts slash questions and suggestions. I appreciate this. Um, you know, in my my day job, we have surveys like this every year. They make it very big. You know, our manager um encourages leading up to it, encourages very positively, we need your feedback. that's the only way that we can grow. So when I see these numbers, I see opportunities. I don't necessarily see negatives or failures. I just see this is where we can really thrive. Um one of my suggestions is what we did at my um my 9-to-five job. um is look for someone in the schools that is extremely positive and um if they're looking for like stretch assignments or some type of leadership and create peer-to-peer cohorts. um take your top three successes and your lowest three and
187have them gain insight from a peers's perspective and then report out because a lot of times I was a part of that. Um I was one of the ones that was chosen to be a part of that work and it does make a difference when it's coming from a peer versus from their their boss or their leader. It just does. And you can still do all the other things that you all are sharing, but this might be another way for you to gain insight that you may not normally get um from people who may not feel as comfortable with sharing it freely. Um I am very interested in you bringing back the the data from the VDOE. Um, but I just want to say that, you know, when we look at this, it's it gives
188us a good opportunity to really give get insight. I'm I see myself as more of like a servant leader. And so these types of things um like draw me in. And so I would suggest you find those type of leaders within your schools that could kind of help to rally the troops, bring some excitement around the surveys. Um, get the word out. Um, you know, ice cream socials. We're going to do the survey and, you know, get a ice cream bar. I don't know. Just create ways to make it fun and and convey to them that by doing this survey, it helps us become better. But on the other side of that, what I would love to see with these types of reports moving forward is what you've assessed and what plans you have in
189place to address some of those actions. So if you have that, you know, cause and response, then they see that change, you know, have that community meeting to say, "Hey, here's what we saw and this is what we're doing to support it." They do that at my job all the time and it's very effective. Miss Burke, >> thank you. I just want to thank you all. This was great information and I really appreciate the manner in which Dr. Wiggins, we all over here saying, but thank you so much because it's not a I got you situation, which is as educators, we should be open to improving and enhancing collectively. Otherwise, why do we have all these different layers in place to support? So, I really appreciate your looking at the data from Mr. Bishop and
190moving forward as to as a team we're going to do all we can to address because sometimes people have sometimes people come to school not with smiles for a reason and it may not have anything to do with school. So, what's the plan in place for that? as well as as you stated earlier um meeting with the principles but also with sometimes you have persons that you can I like what you said different communities or whatever different settings so at the end of the day it's not about I got you or pointing the finger but it's about um collaboration and the opportunity to be in support developing relationships so you know why fill out a form if you're not going to get any feedback with which is what Micard was speaking about earlier. So this
191is going to I think make a difference and I'm glad Miss Rizzy stated what she stated because when I'm I see a 43 or so wait a minute go back what does this mean? So those are um persons who are looking at the data also need to be cognizant of because sometimes we go right to the numbers and not the labels at the top because we're busy people. Thank you so much. Well done. >> One last question. Was there a reason why um for the survey there's not um open comment sections underneath the there is was that data collected in here and I just missed it. >> Uh no we haven't we did not share that data in this particular presentation. We stuck with the traditional metrics that we've shared previously. um in the future
192if you could include that somehow compile. I know it's a lot but if there's a way to compile it that would be great for us to kind of get an insight on so what the feedback they're receiving. >> We appreciate the feedback. >> Thank you so much. >> All right. Up next we have we're almost there folks. Um 4.03 receive an update on staff mental health services. This is something I've been advocating for for a very long time. So, I'm really excited about this presentation. >> Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the school board, and Superintendent Camas. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight about an issue that directly impacts the well-being of our educators, staff, and ultimately our students employee mental health. When we talk about mental health resources, we mean
193the tools, programs, and supports that help employees take care of their emotional and psychological health. These include services like confidential uh counseling, stress management coaching, crisis intervention, and wellness programs that promote balance and resilience. Mental health resources matter because they provide essential support to address challenges before they escalate, improve overall health, enhance productivity, and reduce absenteeism by making help accessible and breaking down stigma. They encourage early intervention and normalize seeking care. We are proud to partner, excuse me, with Sigma to provide comprehensive mental health resources for our employees and their families. The Sigma Employee Assistance Program is a confidential nocost benefit to support employees and their household members with personal and workrelated challenges. These services are separate from the medical plan. I'd like to highlight the first two benefits that are available through EAP. The
194first being counseling and emotional support. Offers short-term solution focused counseling up to six sessions per issue. Available face-to-face or virtually with personalized help for stress, anxiety, family challenges, relationships, and more. includes 247 crisis triage and support, ensuring help is available when needed most. Second are critical incident response services. Rapid deployment of licensed mental health professionals on site or virtually after a traumatic workplace event. Facilitated debrief sessions for affected employees to process events, manage stress reactions, and receive emotional support. Group and one-on-one counseling options are available and follow-up sessions and resources are available for ongoing support. BAP also provides work life resources and referrals, legal and financial assistance, career and job support, online and mobile tools, and support for managers. In addition to the employee assistance program, staff who are enrolled in the Sigma medical plans
195have access to the Sigma Total Behavioral Health Program. Sigma Total Behavioral Health goes beyond traditional counseling and provides a wide range of specialized support for employees at different stages of life and with varying needs. It offers integrative proactive care across settings, complex case and specialty support, behavioral and lifestyle coaching, virtual and digital access, personalized hightouch navigation, and ease of access and support tools. Sigma Total Behavioral Health is an all-in-one flexible and clinically robust program aimed at supporting behavioral health through every channel. Mental health is a cornerstone of wellness. When staff have all the tools to manage stress, access counseling, and practice healthy habits, they are better able to show up fully in their work and personal lives. Sigma offers a wide range of wellness programs designed to help employees live healthier, more balanced lives, reducing
196overall health care costs. These include personalized health coaching and lifestyle programs for weight management, tobacco sessation, and stress reduction. Together, these initiatives boost employee well-being, increase engagement, and promote a healthier, more productive workforce. Uh this past school year, RPS delivered practical nocost or lowcost wellness programs aimed at reducing stress, encouraging sustainable habits, and celebrating the collective effort it takes to take care of ourselves and the greater RPS community. We um we offered biometric screening vouchers. Um, we had healthy fruit, we had fruit and healthy snack deliveries to all of our schools and we did that again this year and those were delivered last week to all every single one of our schools. Um, we offered agriberry farm vouchers to many markets that we had here in city hall. Um, we gave vouchers for our employees
197to take with them to the Lakeside Farmers Market and we had that vendor available at the staff appreciation event that was held in May. We paid for registration fees for the Monument Avenue 10K. I think we paid for about 100 150 employees. And every participant received a t-shirt and fanny packs. And the school or department that had the highest participation rate received HelloFresh meal kits. So that was super exciting. Um, and back to hydration, we did have a hydration challenge last year. Um and randomly selected employees receive Stanley Cups and Amazon gift cards. So we are on track to offer those same things, those same events this year. Um we will um offer uh three month memberships to uh Weight Watchers. We did that the year prior, but we are going to bring that back
198this year. And something else that we're working on um is Sigma is giving us three blood pressure mach machines that we can place um at any of our locations. So I would love your feedback on where we can place those three um blood pressure machines. Good evening. Um Angela Jones with Culture Climate and Student Services. And I we just wanted to tap in here because we book in the services that um Allison just shared with you all. So I wanted to share on the front end because when I speak of mental health, I speak of the full continuum, right? We promote basic positive mental health just like we promote good nutrition. Um and so I wanted to share just a quick update. Um, back in 2022, postcoid, we were um, our leader here granted us
199some funds um, through the ESSER funds to set up staff wellness spaces in all of our schools. Um, each school was granted $3,000 and we actually curated a list, our trauma team created a list of that covered our five senses. So that something had to be purchased at least to cover each of the five senses. Um, and I'll just let you know the massage chairs and the um bicycles were the most popular things and a couple cure eggs and some tea um as well. Um, and so all the schools were able to to set up a room um to their to their liking. They created teams to do that. We also partnered at the time with scan stop child abuse now who helped work with each of our our schools to help we called activate
200the rooms um to kind of do a quick training on how to use those those things to help support any staff member who needed to tap in or out during um some of their most stressful times. I will say we did check in. So obviously our ESSER funds expired and so we do not have the funds to keep those rooms um keep the materials fresh in those rooms from our funds. Several of the schools have been able to tap into PTA funds or other partners. Um you haven't been over to the room at MLK. They're just phenomenal that I said we only bought one bike. Why do we see three? Um or things of that nature. But but we did check in this summer to see kind of what the status was of those rooms.
201TW um 31 schools responded to our quick survey. 28 indicated they still have active um wellness spaces. Many of them have started to double them up and you see the data there that 16 are now using them as their break room and staff lounge. Um our goal was to have two separate spaces if we could so that you weren't necessarily heating up your lunch in the same space you were trying to decompress. we have not been able to um maintain all of those but some of the rooms some of the schools that have more space like JL Francis is really struggling they're bursting at the seams right um and so trying to be creative about that space um they use it really for decompression hosting wellness activities staff breaks just kind of tapping in and
202out but full transparency we do not have the funds to keep those rooms going and so we are always seeking um other thoughts about how we can keep those those spaces going because we did discover especially after a scan pulled out that schools were really looking for that ability to kind of tap out. A lot of our our teachers and other staff members have asked for that. On the flip side of this is where we also step in in moments of crisis. So Allison shared with you how we um partner with EAP in a moment of crisis, but in those fresh moments or when things are happening at the time, our team does step in in the same way that we plan and step in for children, we step in for for staff and we
203offer all kinds of different um supports as it's as it's listed up there, whether it's individual staff support. Just like we set up a space, we ask principles as we're coming in for a space, usually in the media center to set up for children. We usually get someplace like the conference room to set up for staff who may need additional support. We also have um sadly because we're a division that experiences quite a bit of trauma, we actually have a set of um community circle prompts that we use if a if a school division a school wants to engage in a community circle to kind of brief or debrief and we offer support with we'll stand with principles to brief and debrief with their staff to kind of get through those moments. um in sit
204and that's typically like in a grief kind of situation, loss of a student. We just had one we set up in four, five schools um the first week of school um or staff of a a loss of a staff member. In those moments um and although we do have superheroes as staff members in our division, they are still human and there are moments when when they may be experiencing a mental health experience. Um, and again, we will step in, our team will step in to help stabilize a situation if it's an individual staff member. Um, we collaborate immediately with employee relations with benefits. Um, we also often if the situation is serious enough, we will call in RBHA or crisis crest, who we often use with our children. It does also have adult services. It's
205a regional crisis stabilization service and we'll use that as necessary for our um our team members. I do want to note it is and it can become a conflict of interest for our phenomenal highly skilled staff of mental health professionals to actually provide services to their colleagues. And I just so we are cautious about how far we go with that. um because people in a moment of crisis sometimes share things that maybe their co-workers shouldn't have access to. So, we're very cautious about how we we support. Our goal is to stabilize and get connected to the next supports. That's kind of where we fit in. >> Mr. Hedgepad. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Miss Davis, Miss Jones very much for the presentation. uh as you alluded to uh you know teachers are and
206educators generally are so giving and don't know when to say no oftentimes and so it's really important for us to take care of number one before we can take care of others. So I appreciate that this is a robust uh collection of supports and so I'm very appreciative to see that. I'm just curious um how uh how do you uh survey the staff to understand exactly what what they value and what they want as far as the uh the the benefits that come along with their uh job. >> Great question. Um Mr. Bishop and I were discussing about adding more specific questions like that to the employee satisfaction survey. So we will you know definitely add more things like that because we do want the feedback of our employees about what they need, what they
207want, you know, what they like, what they don't. So you will be including more questions in the employee satisfaction survey. >> Thanks very much. >> Thank you Dr. Harris Muhammed. >> Thank you so much for the presentation. I think the governance team could use a blood pressure scanner pump thing. I also think we need a couple of those chairs cur seats like at each of our seats of many cury type thing you know just thinking out of the box yeah to help uh you all are laughing but I'm serious and so um I I think that because we have to model the practice of balanced mental health and so that starts with us um and I I just think that this is this is also close and dear to my heart. Um, and also being
208able to have town halls that maybe the governance team I'm I'm always a component of out in the community talking about um the glows and grows of the work that we're doing. And so I look forward to teaming with you all to talk about that work within my district. Thank you, >> Miss Burke and Miss Ricard. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you all and your colleagues in your departments as well. Things certainly have changed over the years. We always speak about protecting our children, but do we take care of ourselves? So, I love the fresh whatever boxes you all had and it was also great to read all that and to hear all that you all have done because oftent times in our haste we don't hear that. So, I appreciate this report. They have
209the rooms in the schools beyond the lounges. We're going to keep those. Just seeing them is they all are beautiful. I mean, it's just it's just a different atmosphere, different climate. You know, usually in teacher lounges, the conversation may be different, but when you go to that room of peacefulness, and the last time I was in I try to go to all of them whenever I go into a school, we we just sat there and we made um I think I said this before, a scan came in and we made um deodorizers. In fact, I Yeah. And it was just nice to sit there and talk with the other persons and the the eucalypsis was flowing and it was just a different level of of conversation. I loved it. So when we love things that's
210given to us, we take care of them and make them happy, make each other happy. So I'm sure they're not going anywhere in spite of not having the funds. Resources is very evident. The rooms are wellkept. So thank you for that. Well done. >> Thank you, Miss Ricard. And then Miss Rizzy. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I just had a quick question of um all the EAP resources are wonderful. How often are they kind of re-shared with staff to remind them that they're there? Also, I'm just thinking of I'm sure it was shared with firstear teachers, but that whole week is a blur, but they have a reminder about it maybe halfway through the year when maybe they are starting to feel a little more stressed that things are for them. Absolutely. Um, we send
211EAP and behavioral health resources mailers home about four to five times per year because we know that it's, you know, extremely important. Um, so we do send those about four to five times per year. >> Thank you, Miss Rizzie. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And I I just have to recognize that dress. It's so like so like my style. I'm sorry. Thank you. It's amazing. Okay. >> Sorry. Um so um yeah, I do want to comment on those rooms. They are really really nice. I'm impressed with you know how they have been designed and how each individual school has kind of personalized them. Um, you know, I had a colleague when I was teaching middle school who used to go in to our lounge and take a nap during his planning every I'm sure teachers
212aren't doing that necessarily, but it's they're very calming and um I I know our teachers appreciate them and I just want to say thank you to both of you for all the work that you do. >> So, this um is very near and dear to my heart. I won't share the name, but I remember my um freshman year in high school, I had a basketball coach who approached me about becoming a co- captain of the basketball team. And I was like, why why would you choose me? I didn't really see what he saw in me. This is when I went to TJ and um he said, because there's leadership in you. And he was like one of two teachers that really honed in on that. I remember um after my JB year, I stopped playing
213basketball, just I rather graduate, so I graduated a little bit early, but I I saw him later on in life and he asked me how I was doing and I shared all of the things that were going great with me and he kind of shook his head and was super proud. Um years later, um he um was investigated for suicide. And so this topic is very important to me. um when I see how many children are losing their lives in RPS alone um it just doesn't impact the students and the families but impacts the teachers and I just wonder like he was such a great light he was such a wonderful person he was always given I remember he used to give me rides home because my mom couldn't you know give me transportation back
214cuz she work late. And so as we think about mental health services for teachers, just think about those who might be suffering in silence. There are so many that may raise their hand and say, "Hey, I need help." But there's so many more that just push through. And if we could think about ways that we can tap into those resources, I believe those mailers are a great addition. But perhaps, you know, a reminder if someone hopefully we don't have any more deaths this year. Hopefully, God, but if we were to have some type of traumatic experience, maybe it's automatic to say, "Hey, we do have EAP services available." um to look into the whites of their eyes to say and pull them away and say, "Hey, are you okay?" And so this is really why
215this is extremely important to me. Um and I don't think it was necessarily anyone's fault, but I wonder like maybe at that time I saw him all those years later, I can't even remember if I asked him how he was doing. >> Um and so that's a just a gut check for me, but it should be a good check for everybody else. And then I also would like to share for those that are in the ninth district principles, if you are one of the ones that have the lounge and you need some I'm happy to put district funds towards those efforts. It may not be, you know, $3,000, but I'm happy to contribute in any way that I can to support those efforts because we all need a breather every once in a while, but
216thank you all for all that you do. I know it's heavy work, but it's much appreciated. Mr. for >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm not sure if you already went over it, but at some point I would love to see some utilization data of how many of our staff actually use some of these services. And I'll also just point out that there is education is a calling and a field that is inherently um kind of consuming and a lot of our staff pour their hearts into their work. And as we've all talked many times in our meetings, there are many challenges and many situations that our staff find themselves in that really hurts your heart at times. And we use frames phrases like family. We talk about the RPS family, but as you've mentioned, this
217is a job. And so I would love to in addition to the utilization data, maybe we can at some point talk about what are barriers to people actually using the services and what can we do to make the utilization easier and better. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you. >> Next up, we have 0 4.04 04 receive update on 4x4 schedule and advanced placement classes. >> Good evening, Madame Chair, vice chair, school board member, superintendent cameras. Um, given the hour, I will hit the highlights. Um, and I'll take any questions that folks have. Um, but I did want to give you some background on the 4x4 schedule. Uh, we started the 20 uh 2022 school year. um principles came to us with this idea about you of cup of using the 4x4 because they had
218heard of other districts uh that were districts of improvement using it and they saw that they were getting results and so we listened to our principles and we started the path of doing research to determine whether this would be a fit for us. Um so the 4x4 essentially our scholars take uh they take four courses for 90 minutes but they take them every day for a semester. Um and this is very different to what we had in the past. What we had in the past we actually had alternating classes where they would go to four classes on a A day and four classes on a bday. So with that, um, there are some benefits that I'll talk about with having the 4x4 and that consistency versus the AB alternating schedule. Um, and so essentially students
219can actually get a full year of coursework in a semester. Then they also take the so immediately after that, right? Um, and so that was one of the reasons we moved to that because if kids had to retain the information for their entire year, there was some challenges with them passing SOS, right, in retention. And so, um, next slide, please. And so, here are the benefits of the 4x4. And of course, as I said, we did research. We also looked at districts that actually hope well actually uses it. We also there's some other districts that use it. Um, and we wanted to learn from them how it worked. Um and so with that the the continuity is what what I spoke about in terms of seeing your teacher every day helps to also build relationships.
220Um it also eliminate the confusion that kids had about which class do I go to today? Is it a A day? Is it a B day? Even though as school leaders we do some very u creative things, it does cause confusion for scholars, teachers as well as families, right? Um and then the other piece is just in terms of this whole idea of deeper learning. Um, and this whole piece around relationship building also was a key piece for us. But I think the highlight for us as being a district of improvement and focusing on increasing graduation and so performance. So the numbers and the increase and the rise that we continue to see, I believe this contributed to the schedule, right? And so essentially kids get a chance to actually recover credits. They don't have
221to wait an entire year. here if they fail a course they can actually take that course the next semester. Next slide please. So part of it is is many people will say hey this schedule really benefits students and I can see how it benefits students but it doesn't necessarily benefit teachers. I mean that's some of the feedback that we've heard and we anticipated that barrier as we looked at the research but of course we've done some things to prepare for that. First thing that we had to do was to make sure that we adjusted our curriculum, right? Because our curriculum was actually built on the AB schedule. So, we actually went back to red to redo our pacing and our curriculum to ensure that it aligned with the 4x4 schedule, but also that we built
222some time in for remediation and intervention before kids took the SOS. Um, and then the piece in terms of we talk about our kids going on to post-secary and going on to college. If you look at most colleges, that is the schedule that they have. The kids have semester courses. So, we also felt that that would benefit our scholars. So, next slide, please. So, this was just a survey. I won't go through the survey that we gave out in 2023. Um, and I'll let you look at the data. Uh, next slide. So, these are the challenges that we have been working through proactively. Um, and if you talk to any principal, high school principal, they will tell you that we've met like at least three times a year to talk about the challenges. And so,
223for example, Open High is not on a 4x4 because of the structure of the school community um Franklin and also this year we're actually palading um um uh at Hugai High School and I'll talk about it momentarily, the whole idea of lock blocks. Um but essentially the one thing that we did um realized is that schools needed flexibility. So the flexibility that we gave schools comprehensive schools was if you have the staffing complement to have um AP courses full year by all means do that right. We also there are certain courses maybe like AP biology as we looked at the results we felt like they may have needed an entire year supported school leaders as long as they gave us a justification as to why they wanted to do it. So, we do build in
224that flexibility. But again, as it relates to the four by the AP courses, um the lock blocks, we will uh pilot at Huga High School and also see how well it works. But again, all this is contingent upon funding and staffing compliments to be able to do AP courses year long. Um and also it's also about having qualified teachers that also have the ability and certification to actually teach the AP courses. And if you know anything about AP courses, I mean, students can actually earn college credit if they get a qualifying score, right? And so with that, just understand that a kid that takes AP, if they pass the course, it looks good on their resume, right? And say, for example, they don't get a qualifying score, they still pass and it's a rigorous course,
225but we really want our scholars to actually get college credit for it, but also understand that it varies by institution. For example, UVA, you have to score four in order to get college credit. With some other institutions, you score three and they give you credit. Um, and so with that, we've also provided a lot of support for teachers in terms of professional learning. Um, also as I talked about the pacing and the curriculum, we've made the adjustments there. Um, and then also as teachers always do, they get together during their uh their planning blocks to discuss uh how to support u students in AP. Next slide, please. Um, and here's the piece that I want to clarify. So, with AP courses, College Board sets up that the exam can only be given at the end
226of the year. We really wish that they could actually do it like in the fall and in the spring, but of course, we don't make those rules, right? It's a national piece. However, what we do at the end of each semester, we provide for them. We've been doing this for years, but we've been more intentional now that we move to the 4x4 providing a week of intervention. Like we've had some classes on Saturday provided by Nimsy for students to opt into. Um but again with that, we'll be more intentional about ensuring that we get more students there and the students that really need the support to be successful with the AP courses. So really and truly as we look at the 4x4 and I will wholeheartedly say this my 27 years in education like part
227of it is we know that a bell schedule and a master schedule can also determine the climate and culture of the school as well as the acceleration of a school. And so we did a lot of research we've had a lot of conversations with principles around adjustments to master schedule and the whole piece with AP. Um, and so I wholeheartly believe that this is why we continue to get results and I believe if we stick with it, we'll continue to get even more results. So I'm happy to take any questions that folks have. >> Mr. Dr. Harrison, Miss Rizzy, Mr. Hedgep. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel because the 4x4 is having success, um, I feel this speaks to the need for more dual enrollment classes as
228a counter like as a an alternative to AP. Um, one, it's actually more solid credit for these kids if they're going to Virginia universities. Um, they're not having to bank it all on one test, which depending on the day is going to go or not go their way. But I believe then that dual enrollment can do the 4x4. So, it's also just better for our kids. Now, I know that there's a huge investment with dual enrollment. Um, but I feel like if we feel the 4x4 is really working for us, then maybe dual enrollment is really what we need to start looking for. >> And unfortunately, Cassandra Bell is not here, but she was really excited about speaking to dual enrollment because we actually are offering some dual enrollment classes this year. Um, and so
229again, we hope to expand those options um, next year. But furthermore, we've also explored the whole idea of bringing um such as they do at Henriiko is bringing some of those dual enrollment classes on campus. So, we actually did have some teachers that were interested. In the past, we had a challenge getting teachers and because of the requirements and certification, I think we actually had about four teachers that were interested um across the district. And so, we'll continue to push that because I do believe that that will get us more bang for our buck and it'll benefit our scholars ultimately. >> Yes. Um, and yes, that's in what I envision is how can we actually get dual enrollment with our teachers on campus. I know >> yeah, there are additional they have to have a
230master's in the actual content area that they're teaching, which not all of them have. Um, but I think that would be a great way to offer an alternative to AP. >> And we're working with engagement to kind of do a campaign to get teachers excited about it. Yes. Thank you, Dr. Harris Muhammed. >> Thank you so very much. So, the data, the data, the data can speak volumes to work like this. And for several years in 2021, 2022, 2023, I specifically remember the superintendent providing correspondence directly from the Office of School Quality on their reporting when they visited our schools under a school improvement plan or who were under some type of watch for subject matter, culture, and climate, but particularly for curriculum and instruction. There were several correspondences not typed from the superintendent but
231from the office of school equality team that said one of the reasons why you are progressing is because you changed how you were instructing kids. So they spoke very highly of us adjusting our bail schedule from the traditional 7-day to the 4x4 because it directly impacted in 2022 our 2021 graduation data. We were coming right off of COVID. Our 2023 data directly spoke to our 2022 graduation data. It was moving percentage-wise. Did it make this huge umbrella change? It didn't make a huge umbrella change, but it made some changes because we were we were thinking out of the box and we were intentional about we were thinking about our graduation cohort and I know I'm going mispronounce this, but our centers that directly supported our Latino population. But I don't think what we realized as
232a school division is that we were actually going to end up right here with a continual progression of stu of catching students who failed a particular course in one semester and would not have to wait a whole year because they weren't classified up. They were still classified at that grade level. A 4x4 schedule impacts not just a graduation rate, but it impacts classifications. And so it's not a it's it's it's not about what are we going to do in 90 minutes or the 88 or the 86 minutes >> 30 seconds. >> It is about how are we going to impact student outcomes and wraparound services. I'm a strong component of a 4x4 schedule. I was not at first as a teacher because I didn't know how to teach in it and I needed to be
233taught how to strengthen my instructional practices as a teacher. Once you know you do better, this is about kids and this is also about adults. So once we can get that umbrella >> time >> to >> Thank you, Dr. Harris Muhammad. >> Thank you. Thank you Dr. Harris Muhammed. And >> I'll say this before, um, I can vividly remember in 2021, um, I was a middle school director at the time, but of course I would actually listen to the conversations about the 4x4 and I remember Dr. Bell and Sharita Sears brought the idea up and Dr. Bale, I think, used it in Petersburg. Um, and from there there was kind of like a split decision about whether the 4x4 will work. But superintendent cameras I think can attest when I took the role in 22
23423 we were all in the cafeteria and literally said do you know how hard is to get 10 principles to be aligned. We said before we leave today, we're going to make a decision about whether we live with the 4x4 and make adjustments or whether we just stay the path of the the traditional schedule that we had and they all agreed that we would actually and all 10 were in alignment. But of course, we talked about the adjustments around the flexibilities. We agreed on the flexibilities. I have not heard a complaint from one principal since we have had that conversation in 22 23. Thank you, Miss Rizzie. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Well, I guess I'll be the fly in the ointment. I don't like 4x4 schedules at all. >> In fact, I left K12
235teaching um when my district went to a 4x4 largely because um I think I consider a lot of my success as a teacher um is becau. It's based on the fact that I build very strong deep relationships with my students. In fact, I'm still very much in touch with most of it feels like most of them. Um, and that was built over a year of consistently seeing them three times a week, for example, because we were on a schedules. Um, when we moved to 4x4s, I felt that they left me too early. I didn't have a t have a chance to build that kind of longstanding relationship that then you know really helped me at the end of the year um get them prepared for SOS and I always had very strong so scores and
236I and so when the district I was with moved to 4x4 I moved to VCU where then I started teaching students 50 minutes three times a week which was very much like what what I feel all year long I had a at VCU I had a course that was two semesters and so I got to spend time with a spiral curriculum right where we do the same kind of thing but only on a deeper level the second semester. So, I really I would love to hear more feedback from our schools about, you know, fresh feedback like a new like um I don't know if you want to do a survey or how you want to do it, but I would really like to hear more about this because I do hear some people, you know,
237I I hear feedback from people who are not necessarily a fan and or not necessarily fans. So, um I'm I'm sorry. I just I want to see more data. I want to see more data that clearly draws a line from the success to the 4x4 so that we weed out any other um what comeingling factors um >> because I I um I see some benefits in seeing students all year long. And so can I also say that um I was a middle school principal, not a high school principal, but also was not a fan of the double block schedule when I became a middle school principal. But when I saw the results of kids in reading and math and science and history, I immediately became a fan. And also with the 4x4, I think the
238other piece is, you know, as a district of improvement, the research shows that it's a really good fit for us. But I do believe I mean I don't know if I'll be here five years from now like when we actually stabilize and get to where we need to be. I think every year we should provide some flexibility to schools as long as they have the compliment. But I think right now we have to mandate some things because we are a division of improvement and so many of our schools need to get to the place where as you spoke to where the where we're at the state average right or above the state average. And so, um, just from the research and just from my professional opinion, I think the 4x4 is a really good fit,
239but everybody's not a fan. And we'll be happy to, uh, to actually give some feedback. >> Thank you, Mr. Hitchp. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Jefferson. I really appreciate the the conversation. And um I am probably more aligned with Miss Rizzy on this one as well and have heard a number of concerns about the 4x4 from particularly from the fourth district. Um and the the data like the 3.35 like that doesn't to me equal necessarily fully satisfied. So, I do appreciate that we have a common framework of the 4x4 and that especially since you're allowing for, you know, the the nuances between the schools and for uh some principal autonomy uh when it comes to um you know, dual enrollment courses, which I totally support bringing back into the school as well.
240Um, but also the fixed block for the AP because I am an AP teacher and I have many times taught AP in the fall uh for a semester and have had to wait to have my students tested in in May and that's really difficult to do. Um, and to Dr. Dr. Harris Muhammad's point earlier about the about the 90minute class period u that is difficult for uh for teachers to to teach um without without uh you know training additional professional development and also I read recently that Gen Z now has a record 8 second u attention span 8 seconds so uh so 90 minutes um you know is is is concerning and and I can see it still powerful if chunked properly if if planned properly where there uh there's there's a variety of activities
241um as long as there isn't the sage on the stage for for 90 minutes u the u the other uh piece oh gosh I almost lost it oh I'm sorry um for our content areas that are really dependent upon skill building like our math and our language classes u you know if a student is on a 4x4 they may not have a math class, correct me if I'm wrong, right? Like in the spring and then they may not have one in the fall the next year. So they may have gone, you know, from the fall of 25 to the spring of 27 um to having a math class or having an a language class. And and so that to me is really concerning about the this this continual practice of skill building, particularly in language
242and in math, but but in all of our content areas. So, not sold on the 4x4, but but I do understand that it also doesn't need to be the binary of if it's not the 4x4, then it needs to be the AB rotating schedule, right? You know, >> maybe there's a third option also. >> Yeah. And we kind of do the third option. We do the 4x4 with platooning. And platooning just means that you can have year-long courses um if you feel the need. And most of those are AP based on um the course. But you also raised a good point. We had to do a lot of training and it's not here because this was from a curriculum lens, but we've done a lot of training with our school counselors on how to schedule
243kids and of course they know what the prerequisites are because they can look in the program of studies. But again, we have to ensure that that school counselors give the right guidance. I hate to use that term because they don't like that term, but give the give the right guidance in terms of like what classes are fit for you this semester and following semester. So we've done a lot of work with them um in the secondary postsecary u department and so I think we've come a long way as it relates to scheduling. Also, I think back to the point that you made. I remember one of the first tasks that I was given video sent us to report didn't have 94minute blocks because remember they had seat time right back in the day our our
244classes were 70 minutes but we weren't meeting the seat time requirements and that was the easiest thing to fix because we got slapped on the hand not having 94 minutes and so we went back to make the adjustment but also I think Cassandra Bill will talk about how we use the 90 minutes is very very creative and impressive in my opinion. Thank you, Miss B. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I was not in favor of the 4x4 schedule at all because I'm a relationship type person, want to nurture, this is what M Vidy was speaking. But after observing and seeing that end of the day, it does benefit our students getting more coursework in being in a different place where they would otherwise get to the end of the school year and find out
245they didn't have ample credits to go on as they thought they had. My only question is I really would like to see the opportunity for the arts. You only have band a half a semester. I mean half a year or whatever. It's not a notless you meet after school. which all schools are not privy to do that. Um, but I I really would like to find a creative way maybe financially. Is Mr. Cooper still here? Okay. Financially to look at a way by he moved seats. Okay. To look at a way by which students can have those opportunities because >> as Mr. Hedgepath just stated not eight 8 seconds for that generation but you have to change, you have to switch up. You have to move around, just can't stay still. So, how do we
246get the arts included? Because we have some very talented students, but it may take more than a few month, couple of months to well, four months for them to get those opportunities that they need. Not unless you're in the in the position and our stronger arts programs in the city, students meet after school, but everybody is improved to do that. So, >> yes, ma'am. So, I'll work with uh Christy Joe and her team come up with some solutions to the arts. Yes, sir. >> Mr. Faru, >> Mr. Jefferson, I really respect and appreciate that we have to make tough choices with limited resources. And so when we do that, there are always right you you do you increase something over here, you lose something somewhere else. So, in that spirit, I respect and appreciate that
247we are all constantly wrestling with this. Um, so far, I like the 4x4 schedule. I like the results we're seeing. I think I'm grateful that we're pushing pushing and trying new things to really better serve our students. But in that spirit, I do want to share just some feedback I got from one teacher about the 4 by4 schedule. This teacher did acknowledge that there were many benefits, but there was one quirk that she saw. She says that a lot of students go through something major causing them to have a bad semester. On a 4x4, they can't always recover from that because a bad semester is an entire failed class. There are also many extracurriculars that require more than one semester of a particular GPA to be eligible. And in some cases, that high school may
248only offer three semesters of that particular course, meaning that it only goes up three levels. And so students sometimes can't have a single bad semester or even a bad quarter and still be eligible for those extracurriculars. She says her kids are dealing with housing instability, parentification, guardians passing away, and all kinds of serious hardships and having one bad nine weeks or one bad semester could preclude them from some of these enrichment opportunities. So I just wanted to pass that along as some feedback as we continue to monitor and track how this works. Thank you for your time. Yeah, and and I appreciate that feedback. Um, and one of the focuses this year is around uh sense of belonging and self-efficacy. And I think that that will help our students as it relates to um the
249support systems. For example, the other two things we put in place is uh one of our graduation strategies, we have this thing called the vault, right? We're actually tracking our students from 9th to 12th grade. We're supporting them. We had the staggered start, right? we're supporting them in ninth grade and wrapping our arms around them so that we can proclude those things from happening. Not the social things that we can't control, but like how do we help them be successful and resilient even with the challenges in place, but everybody has to be working in concert. And so I think a lot of those uh the graduation meetings that we've had with school teams with focusing on 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders, you talk to a counselor and a principal now, they can actually tell
250you about a kid and not just they need x amount of credits, but they know the child's backstory. And so that has been a huge focus for us. And I think sense of belonging. The other pieces around we're trying to figure out how to get better with advisory and soft skills. We have AVID in some of our schools where that will help students be resilient. um and help students um study better and and prepare better. Studying it's probably uh old school now, but um but just to give them the soft skills to be to be more resilient and more successful. >> Thank you. >> All right. At this time, if there's nothing to pull out of otherformational items, somebody has closed session. Mr. card. Yes, sure. >> Um, thank you, Madam Chair. Real quick, there
251was just one thing um I wanted to bring up about the sexed curriculum. Okay. >> Um, which I appreciate that it was shared because I know we had received questions about it from other community from community members and constituents. Um, I actually had a um, PE teacher email me about it and really expressed a lot of gratitude for the support they've been given in teaching sexed, but also admitting that there's still um just a not a discomfort, but an being unsure about saying the right thing, teaching it in the right way. And I know um when we got an email update earlier tonight, it was about maybe talking with the health district and bringing nurses back in to teach. Um and I guess I just wanted to voice my support and if there's anything I
252can do to facilitate having nurses come back in. Um I think it just brings a different lens to it when nurses are teaching sexed. It also um allows consistency of the curriculum across all our schools which is so important for our students. Won't tell you about my high school experience where if you had one PE teacher you got one view of sexed and if you had the other one you were pretty much just taught abstinence which we know does is not the way to teach sexed. Um so I just just wanted to like publicly voice if there's anything I can do to support nurses coming in I am happy to do that. Yeah. And I will say that um I've learned the history. The Richmond Department of Health used to actually do the education piece.
253However, I believe after COVID the funds ran out and also they just took a different approach and so um we have taken it upon ourselves and actually partnered to provide some training for our health and PE teachers. Um but we also are having conversations with some external partners now to see if they can actually support us. Um and so we will continue to have those conversations to see if we can find the right fit so we can enhance our curriculum. uh because I do believe based on and again I haven't uh based on the feedback that I've been given is that uh we provided a lot of training for them to be successful with implementation but again no enhancement doesn't hurt right and specifically for people who are professionals and this is their skill set
254and this is what they do all day so I'll be happy to give an update once we talk to external partners to figure out who can help us um and they don't cost >> Dr. very quickly to that point. We just want to make sure that within their job skill like what school counselors can do 20% of the time has changed. So, we want to make sure we pull as you're going to look what the current um statement and code is with nurses because a certain amount of time has to be spent in the clinic with students. So that idea is great. I just want to make sure we are within the realm of doing that. So that's a great I love that, >> Miss Ricard. >> And I wasn't even necessarily thinking about school
255nurses, but um I was more just thinking like I was more thinking um nurses through the health department. Um so >> they provided >> that's another opportunity. >> All hearts and minds clear as my mom used to say. All right, >> Madam Chair, um I move that the school board of the city of Richmond convening convene in close session one to discuss the performance and complaint of a central office employee, the performance evaluation of two central office employees and the hiring of potential candidates for a central office position as well as to consult with legal counsel regarding the same issues as authorized by VA code 2.2-371. 2-3711A1 and A8 and two to consult with legal counsel concerning legal issues impacting schoolboard's resolutions as authorized by VA code 2.2-3711A88 >> second >> been moved by Mr.
256Ricard and seconded by Mr. Pival Madame clerk >> Mr. Perl >> yes >> Mr. Ricard >> yes >> Mr. Farooq >> yes >> Mr. Hedgepath. >> Yes. >> Miss Rzzy. >> Dr. Harris Muhammed. >> Yes. >> Miss Burke. >> Yes. >> Mr. Jafari. >> Miss Fernandez. >> Yes. Motion pass.