001Heat. Heat. Down. Hello. Hey. Hey. Down. Hey, down. Hey Down. Hey. Hey. That's it. Heat. Heat. Down. Hey. Hey. Oh yeah. Down. Hey Down. Hey. Hey. I'd like to call our meeting back to order. >> Mr. Greenway, will you please read us out of closed? >> Yes, Madam Chair. I move that Rona County School Board come out of close session for the following. To discuss the investigation of a student matter pursuant to the Scholastic record exemption at 2.2-371182 3711 A2 of the Code of Virginia and to certify to the best of each member's knowledge only public business providers lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under this chapter and only such business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened or heard discussed or considered in the meeting by the
002school board. >> Second. >> Madame Clerk. >> Dr. White. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. London. >> Yes, ma'am. Mr. Green. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Hudson. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Miss Clemens. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Item 2.03, action from closed. >> Yes, Madam Chair. I move that student number EX 2025 20226 number 11 be placed in an alternative alternative education program under the conditions of a contract as developed by the superintendent. Second, >> Madame Clerk. >> Ar. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. London. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Greenway. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Yes, ma'am. >> Miss Clemen. >> Yes, ma'am. >> And madam chair, I also move that student number ex 2025 2026 number 12 be placed in an alternative education program under the conditions of a contract as developed by the superintendent. >>
003I'll second. >> Madame clerk, >> Dr. White. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. London. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Greenway. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Hudson. >> Yes, ma'am. >> M. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Welcome everyone. Will you please stand for the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisibley and justice for all. Item 4.01 01 announcement of changes in the agenda. We do not have any. Item 4.02 approval of agenda. Do we have a motion to approve? >> So moved. Second. >> Madame clerk. >> Dr. White. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. London. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Greenway. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Hudson. >> Yes, ma'am. >> M. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Item 5.01, 01 recognition of
0042026 Young Arts Competition National Winner Nate Buck who is a student at Burton and Williamird High School and presented by Sarah Cubberly. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Nicely. This evening we are proud to recognize Nate Buck, a junior in the Center for Visual Arts for earning a 2026 National Young Arts Award in visual arts. Nate is joining us on the screen. You see, Young Arts is a highly selective national competition. More than 16,000 students submitted work this year, and winners were chosen through multiple rounds of adjudication by distinguished artists and industry professionals. Nate's work was selected for exceptional technique, powerful artistry, and depth of thinking, placing him in a small group of the nation's most accomplished artist. His teacher, Mrs. Stum shared, "This award reflects Nate's remarkable talent and dedication to
005developing his artistic voice." Please join me in congratulating Nate on this outstanding national achievement. >> Congratulations. Thank you. >> We heard it. It's okay. >> Item 5.02, recognition of 2025 Summit Awards for Public Relations, Society of America, Blue Ridge Chapter for Chuck Limeberger and Rono County Public Schools, presented by Dr. Ken Nicely. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. I'd like to ask uh Mr. Limeberger to come up and join me. So, last week, the Blueridge chapter of the Public Relations Society of America held their annual summit awards presentation. These highly competitive awards recognized the best in public relations in Southside and Western Virginia. Entries are judged by PR professionals from over from other chapters nationwide. Judges evaluate the entry's overall research, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The top award in each category earns a
006gold summit award with a silver award going to the second highest scoring entry. Annually, Mr. Limeberger, who is accredited in public relations and a past president of the Blige chapter, submits different communications projects for consideration. This year, I'm proud to announce that Verno County Public Schools received three gold summit awards. And that's for special events longer than two days for the category um or the special events category, excuse me, for the March Mathness 2025 with our supervisor of mathematics Sarah Bear. And by the way, that will be kicked off again this year. We're looking forward to another round of March Madness coming up. Um second gold award goes for issues in communic crisis communications category for the show up for success campaign to reduce chronic absenteeism. And then finally, a gold award for the shared
007media, which is video streaming category for graduation live, which Mr. Limeberger puts so much time and effort into um uh live streaming or graduation ceremonies each year. And so that award was for last year. So we want to of course thank uh Mr. Limeberger for for all of his hard work and all of these uh endeavors and congratulate him on bringing our school system three gold awards. Uh are are you able to juggle all those? >> Quite a few years. I need to have my picture just right. Item 5.03 recognition of the month of February 2026 as CTE month. Mr. Jason sir, >> good evening board chair, board members, and Dr. Nicely. February is National Career and Technical Education Month, and I'd like to tonight take uh to briefly highlight CTE in Rono County Public
008Schools. CTE provides avenues for students to become opportunity ready by investigating career pathways, exploring their interests, and preparing for high-skll, high demand fields. Our CTE instruction combines strong academics with hands-on realorld learning to equip students with the skills, experiences, and mindset they need for success in whatever direction their career path leads. CTE is not an alternative path. It is an essential part of how we help our students plan for life after graduation. Our CTE department holds ongoing conversations with employers in the greater Rono Valley to stay informed about employers need for a skilled workforce and how our CTE programs help meet that need by aligning instruction with labor market uh demand for students. CTE increases engagement and relevance by connecting learning to the real world and possible careers. For families, it provides multiple post-graduation options,
009employment, college credentials, military service, apprenticeships, or a combination of these. CTE ensures students graduate with choices. Well, as you know, Renault County Public Schools offers a broad range of CTE programs across multiple career clusters and in our secondary schools, our five middle schools, five high schools, and Burton Center for Arts and Technology. With the school's on school board's ongoing support, students can earn industry credentials, participate in work-based learning, gain hands-on experience using industry standard equipment programs in areas such as health sciences, business and marketing, family and consumer sciences, skilled trades, IT and engineering help students build both technical skills and those opportunity ready skills. Work-based learning opportunities help students gain firsthand knowledge of the workplace as well as the technical skills it takes to succeed. These experiences allow students to graduate not only with a
010diploma, but with confidence and real world readiness. CTE is driven by talented teachers in each of our secondary schools, including Burton Center, which will soon, as we know, transition to the new Rowan Oak County Career and Technology Center. I am proud to work alongside a dedicated CTE teaching core as well as a small but mighty CTE support staff. With me tonight are supervisor CT of CTE Mark Jones, workbased learning coordinator Amanda Painter and schoolbased uh school business relations coordinator Carl York. CTE T team with the everpresent assistance. I can't leave her out. Miss Becky Caldwell, she couldn't be with us tonight. Work behind the scenes on tasks that help make Rono County Public Schools a CTE leader in Virginia. tasks include that we that we work on developing the federal Perkins plan, collaborating with the
011Office of Economic Development, reviewing curriculum, making specialized equipment purchases, submitting state reports, meeting with businesses, collaborating on the Carnegie Future of High School effort, and developing and coordinating work-based learning opportunities. This team of people in collaboration with our teachers and industry partners works tirelessly to provide engaging and purposeful learning experiences to our students. In closing, CTE and Rono County Public Schools is about opportunity and impact. Updates can be read and listened to via the CTE department's new opportunity engine newsletter and podcast series posted to our website. Thank you for your time tonight and for your continued support of CTE through not only the funding but your participation on the general advisory committee and by attending our CTE related events. Thank you for your time tonight. >> Thank you. >> Item 5.04 04 recognition of the
012month of February 2026 as school board appreciation month. Dr. Ken Nicely, >> thank you for that presentation from our CTE folks. Um, Renault County Schools is very privileged to uh have um one of the most recognized and highly honored CTE programs in Virginia and appreciate their leadership with that. So, um we have um uh uh a recognition we want to uh provide uh on behalf of um for the schoolboard appreciation month and we have a proclamation uh that has been issued by the governor. So, I'll read that to you with all the appropriate whereazes. Um so, by virtue of the authority uh vested in the constitution in the governor of the commonwealth of Virginia, there is hereby um officially recognized as schoolboard appreciation month. Whereas public schools play a critical role in Virginia by supporting
013the well-being of students and providing an an equitable opportunities to students of all backgrounds. And whereas the future of the Commonwealth depends on public schools as they teach, challenge, and nurture uh tomorrow's leaders. And whereas schoolboard members are elected to represent the interests of students, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders of public schools. And whereas school boards play a vital role in ensuring that students across the Commonwealth have access to a high quality, rigorous public education and are best positioned to uphold educational excellence in Virginia schools. Whereas school boards are the governing bodies responsible for the oversight, success, and effectiveness of school systems across the Commonwealth. Whereas school local schoolboard members work with parents, businesses, educational professionals, and other community members to create a shared vision of success for students. And whereas these decisions affect the
014present and future lives of children and chart a path to prepare all students to be competitive in a local, state, national, and global 21st century knowledge economy. And whereas schoolboard appreciation month acknowledges the contributions, dedication, and service of Virginia's local schoolboard members. Uh therefore um uh Governor Spanberger uh does officially recognize February 2026 as schoolboard appreciation month in the Commonwealth of Virginia and call this observance to attention of all of our citizens. And of course uh with this a lot of our schools have provided um tokens of appreciation to all the schoolboard members and we thank if you for each of you for your service uh to the citizens and families and students of Verno County. So can we have a round of applause for our SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS? AND SHE DIDN'T KNOW I WAS
015GOING TO DO this and she didn't blow up this up into large print. This is also schoolboard clerk appreciation week. >> So, uh I want to attempt to read this. So, this another list of whereases whereas schoolboard clerks in each locality throughout our great commonwealth are appointed by law to fulfill their duties and responsibilities. And whereas schoolboard clerks are responsible for keeping accurate records of the meetings and proceedings of the school board, a record of all receipts and dispersements, and a record of all official acts. Whereas schoolboard clerks perform such other duties in connection with the school business of of their county um as may be required by the school board. Whereas schoolboard clerks maintain frequent contact with the public, including parents, employees of the and the media on behalf of the school board and
016superintendent. And whereas schoolboard clerks and their performance of their duties are often required to work extra hours attending schoolboard meetings. Whereas schoolboard clerks help to ensure students achieve their highest potential and provide an invaluable service for schoolboard members and superintendent. Uh this is from the the VSBA board of directors recognizes February 16th through 20th which is this week as school board clerk appreciation week in the Commonwealth of Virginia. So, can I have a round of applause for for Miss York speech >> speech speech? It's only for a >> Oh, that's unfortunate. Dr. >> Salt. Yeah. Yeah, that that sounds like a response from him. All right. Item 5.05, school spotlight, Burlington Elementary, Miss Beth Grim Jennings. Madame Chair, board members, thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to come before you to share
017a few highlights of Burlington Elementary. It is my pleasure to represent my school and all that they have. Um, I wanted to start a little bit with history. Um, our school was built in 1939. Um, but with that being said, we have had some renovations in the last 25 years of our kindergarten wing and also an annex gym. And just recently, um, we had the basement renovated, which allowed for a lot more space for us. So, we're appreciative of that. And I wanted to give a shout out to my custodians. We may be old, but we are clean. We have one of the cleanest schools in Renault County, and I'm quite proud of that. Um, our enrollment now is 450 and we have 89 staff members and we house preschool and also a fax class
018within our elementary school. Um, something that sort of makes us unique is that we currently have 96 students who are English language learners. And of those, we have 11 languages that are spoken at school. And this is a richness and a diversity that we embrace and that we're thankful for. And our students have spend a lot of time learning from one another. And we are very much appreciative of this. Um, we have a very strong community at Burlington Elementary and we do a lot of activities to draw families into our community. We're very in proximity. We're very close um to our um families. Um we provide a lot of activities after school. Some of those are girls on the run. We have a grant this year and we have a violin club and students actually
019get violins that they get to take home and practice and has been very well received. We have our student council. We have free afterchool care. And we also have police pouts that I'll touch on a little bit more as we go. We also work on getting our families in to build community and also to help with parent education. Um we have PTA performances obviously each month. We have excellent Title One nights which um work on helping families with literacy and math skills. We do a variety of fundraisers with restaurants in our community to also build a relationship with them. Um, and it's a fun time for families. Um, we have our so swim club um, for third through fifth and we do our spring carnival and trunk or treat just to name a few. We
020have a very strong PTA of which I'm very appreciative of. They're very supportive. They do a lot of activities in and out of school. We try to have a wide variety of activities to touch all students interests. Um we do have the boys and girls club which we're very appreciative of. It is free and it is more than just your normal afterchool care. Um it has a lot of depth to it. There is a power hour for homework which many kids need, but they also have a reading and math remediation component. And I actually have staff members who were employed by Boys and Girls Club who provide enrichment in reading and math from an extension from what's going on in the classroom. They work on healthy lifestyles, community presentations, field trips, and parent education. As
021always, we're looking at ways to um provide more deeper learning experiences for our students. This year, we don't have the luxury of space to have a STEM lab. So, we purchase STEM bins for our teachers to have within the classroom. Our fifth graders are exceedingly excited about the solar um car event that we have coming where they create their own solar car. We have a competition at school and then there'll be a county level competition. And we've also added the Lego kits where students get to experience and build um things within the Lego community. Um I wanted to draw particular attention to my staff. I have a very hardworking, dedicated staff who spend endless hours to provide a rich, caring, loving environment for students. They support all students. Every student that comes through our doors,
022we treat them as our own and do everything that we can do to help them be successful. Tonight I wanted to pay um particular um emphasis for our SRO Rick Croer who's here tonight. If you would come forward. I know that you as a board um spent a lot of time and effort to make sure that we had SRO's in our schools and we are greatly appreciative and I'm not sure that you maybe know everything that goes on with our SRO's. We hit the lottery with our SRO and I have a few notes of things that I wanted to share about Mr. Croer. Um, it is my honor to recognize Officer Croser, our school resource officer at Burlington Elementary. For the past three and a half years, Officer Croer has been a constant, steady presence
023at our school. Someone who not only keeps our students and staff safe, but also invest deeply in the life of our school community. From the beginning of his time with us, Officer Croer has made it clear that his role is more than simply one of enforcement and protection. He has immersed himself fully into the daily rhythm of our school. He serves on important school committees, contributing his perspective to other planning and decision-making. He attends our PTA events where he takes time to talk to parents, listen to concerns, and build trust. He makes it a point to connect with students on a personal level, learning their names, asking about their day, and making sure that they know he is someone they can always provide support. Each year, Officer Croer takes the initiative to present safety lessons
024to every single classroom in the building. These presentations are not one-sizefits-all. He tailors them to the developmental level of our students, ensuring that our youngest learners understand the basic safety rules where our older students receive age appropriate guidance about making safe and responsible choices. Beyond his work during the school day, Officer Croer has sponsored our pals police pals club and we have two of our teachers who are also sponsors here with us tonight. This club meets twice a week after school with one group dedicated to third graders and another to the fourth and fifth graders. Through this program, students gain hands-on introduction to the criminal justice. Officer Croer brings in guest speakers from across the community, local police officers, firefighters, EMS personnel, and other personnel so students can see firsthand how many of the public
025safety support strengthens our community. He makes learning engaging, relevant, and inspiring. And in the process, he shows students what service and leadership looks like. One of the highlights of the club each year is our annual police pals. This event is attended by our club members, their families, and local law enforcement. It is more than just a dance. It is a celebration of community partnership, and a moment where students and families can interact with officers in a positive, welcoming environment. For the past two years, he has also organized our Saturday bike rodeo, an event designed per to promote bike safety and community engagement. Students and van families came out, learned important bike safety, and enjoyed a day of fun that also carried with it a powerful message. Safety and community go hand in hand. The impact
026that officer Croer cannot be measured only by the number of events that he has organized or the presentations he has delivered. His impact is measured by the countless moments when students feel safer and parents feel confident and teachers feel supported simply because he is there. His smiling and greeting face to families and his calm presence during times of stress and reassuring voice reminds the students they matter. Officer Croer is not only our resource officer, he is our partner, our mentor, our role model, and a key part of the Burlington family. He keeps us safe, yes, but he also builds and fosters trust and strengthens the bond between school and community. On behalf of the Burlington Elementary family, it is my privilege to recognize and thank Officer Croer for his unwavering dedication. His service has left
027a lasting mark on our school and we are incredibly grateful to call him one of our own. You're welcome. And he has has some support with him and this is a reflection of the support that he provides for us. It's tremendous. And Chief Po Dexter is here, Sergeant Voss is here, Sergeant Banks is here, his sister Melissa is here and two of the teachers that um work with him in police pals, Mrs. Kabath and Mrs. Flint are here to also show their support. >> Miss Grim, before you leave there, Miss Jennings, I'm sorry. I've seen firsthand what a tremendous job you've done and the positive impact you've had at Burlington over the years. Um, disappointed that you've decided to retire, but I'm confident. >> I'm old. >> Well, I don't know about that, but I
028know that you've earned the right to retire. >> I appreciate that. It is a wonderful school community. Has been absolutely my privilege to work with them and out of my 32 years, it's the most hardworking, dedicated staff I've ever had the p privilege to lead. >> Appreciate the job you've done. Thank you. >> You're very welcome. >> Thank you. Item 6.01, report by student advisory council representative Lily Bradock. >> Good evening, Madam Chair, Dr. Dr. Nicely, Dr. Solstus, and members of the board. Thank you all for the opportunity to share an update from the SACE meeting held on February 4th. The council welcome the council welcomed Miss Susan Peterson, director of finance, who provided an overview of the school's division budgeting process. She outlined how many different factors impact the final adopted budget. Miss Peterson
029emphasized transparency and encouraged students to participate in upcoming surveys and public input opportunities. Council also welcomed Mr. Ben Ben Williams, the director of assessment and research to discuss grading policies, so assessments, and potential changes at the state level. Topics discussed included variations in retake and test correction policies by subject area, the elimination of traditional extra credit, and the potential changes to the SOS and grading. Students raised some concerns regarding grading consistency and the importance of timely, specific feedback. Mr. Williams provided good feedback and advice on how to navigate these issues. Council revisited discussions of amending the SACE bylaws to clarify attendance expectations. Service uh survey results showed strong support for clear attendance guidelines in the leadership discretion enforcement. Key takeaways from the survey include 64% support for attendance policy amendment, 86 support for leadership discretion
030and determining thresholds, and a broad support for recognizing outside leadership participation. The council agreed that drafting a bylaw uh language would be prepared for presentation uh considered at the March 4th meeting. Representatives share the following highlights from their schools. At Cave Spring, they're preparing a kindness month activities for the youth mental health awareness initi uh initiative this month. Their basketball team held a benefit game on February 13th for Morgan's message and the tutor house. They're also holding an American Heart Association schoolwide challenge in support for a student who is suffering from heart disease. At William Bird, an anti- vaping club is currently under consideration. They are also actively looking at returning paper towels into the bathrooms instead of hand dryers and possibly adding foot handles on the doors to improve sanitation. At Glenn, posters were
031made to raise awareness of human trafficking and SACE members helped update schoolwide expectation videos. At Hidden Valley, a new HOSA club is under consideration. Students are collaborating and actively working on their opportunity ready portfolio defenses. We are also showing support and acts of kindness for a middle school student who has unfortunately recently suffered a severe accident. The SLC planning committee shared the theme for this year's conference. Communication creates change. The conference will take place on April 24th here at central office. SEC members were informed of the CADCA National Youth Council opportunity for students ages 15 through 18 with prevention leadership experience. Seven students from our four school requested applications. If selected, students will participate in a monthly virtual meeting from February to July of 2027 in which they connect with other student leaders across the
032nation who are working to combat substance use. This program also includes an expense paid inerson retreat in Alexandria in the fall of 2026. The next SACE meeting will be held March 4th featuring Dr. Sean Hughes, the director of school counseling, and Miss Karen Garlo, the associate director of counseling. Thank you for your continued support of the student leadership in Rowan Oak County Public Schools. >> Thank you. >> Item 7.01, public hearing on the 2026 2027 annual budget. Before the school board approves its budget for submission to the appropriating body, the board must hold at least one public hearing to hear the views of the citizens. Please notice public notice of the hearing must be given at least seven days before the hearing in a newspaper having a general circulation in the division pursuant to 22.1-92B
033of the code of Virginia. This time is set aside to receive citizen comments on the 2026 2027 annual budget for Reno County Public Schools. The public hearing was advertised in the Renault Times on February 12th, 2026. We have any public comments? It does not appear that we have any citizen comments. So, the public hearing is now closed. Item 8.01, hearing of citizens for agenda topics. We do not have any. Item nine, consent agenda. Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Make a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> Second, >> Madame Clerk. >> Dr. White. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. London. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Greenway. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Hudson. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Item 10, action. We do not have any. Item 11, information 11, excuse me,
03411.01, introduction of new assistant superintendent, Dr. Jamie Sulttus. Madam Chair, members of the board, thank you for uh providing me the opportunity to introduce everyone to the new assistant superintendent beginning July 1. Um if I could have Miss Green, and I'm sorry I'm sick, so you probably want to stay a little bit away from me, Mr. Todd. Sorry, Miss Poland. I'm pleased to formally welcome Miss Jill Green as our new assistant superintendent of administration and human resources and Dr. Haley Poland as our new assistant superintendent for student services. I'm truly excited to have both of these outstanding leaders join our already amazing central office team. I have been blessed to work alongside each of them during my career and I've witnessed firsthand their professionalism, integrity, and unwavering commitment to students and staff. Miss Green brings
035a strong background in organizational leadership and personnel management. Throughout her career, she's demonstrated leadership skills, and the ability to both motivate and support stakeholders, including me, when I was a young teacher at Glenn. Dr. Poland brings expertise in student services, counseling, and special education. Dr. Poland and I first worked together at Glenver Middle School where she served as my middle school counselor and did a lot of other things that probably didn't fall under the counselor realm that I asked her to do. Uh throughout her career journey, she's demonstrated leadership, a tireless work ethic, and the ability to work with all stakeholders. Both of these leaders bring a wealth of experience, a collaborative spirit, and a shared commitment to continuous improvement. Please join me in welcoming Miss Green and Dr. Poland. Um and I do look
036forward to working with both of you um as we move forward the absence of Dr. Nicely who I also wanted to congratulate and wish luck. >> Anyway, I want to give them a chance to talk. >> Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Nley and Dr. Sulttus. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to serve Reno County Public Schools as assistant superintendent for administration and human resources. I am sincerely grateful for your trust and confidence. For the past six years, I have had the privilege of serving as principal of North Side High School. While it is not easy to step away from a community I value deeply, that experience has streng strengthened my leadership and deepened my understanding of the daily work in our buildings. I am very proud of what
037we have accomplished together and very thankful to the North Side community. As a veteran educator with a deep passion for public education, I am honored to continue serving a division that is truly one of the best. Finally, I want to thank my daughters, Haley and Hannah, for the constant encouragement and love. Thank you for this opportunity. Hard to follow Jill. Thank you. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the school board, Dr. Nicely, Dr. Sulttus. I am deeply honored and grateful for this opportunity to return to Reno County Public Schools as the assistant superintendent of student services. Thank you for your trust in me and your confidence that I can I can do this role. I recognize the responsibility and that comes with this role and I'm humbled by the chance um to support students and
038families and our colleagues in Reno County Public Schools. I'm grateful for the opportunity and I'm excited to work with Dr. Sult and the great team here in Reno County. Thank you. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Miss Green, um I hate to say you leave North Side. You've done such a tremendous job over there. It's um it's been such a breath of fresh air. Just want to make sure that you remember once a Viking, always a Viking. >> Congratulations. I would also like to say to Miss Green because uh you came in at a time uh that was unsettling in many ways to the to the North Side community and just gave us that steady calm and you've been a leader that they have respected and loved and just been great for that community, great for
039Ron County Public Schools, your your leadership and guidance and obviously we've had opportunities to work on other projects and things and uh just I appreciate everything you've brought to to our school system and what a what a wonderful way to extend that knowledge and experience and to bring it to the assistant superintendent. Look forward to working with you. >> I would echo those comments. They've already beat me to the punch, but uh I tell Miss Green all the time how I feel about her. She's a wonderful administrator and you do an excellent job. I'm excited to see what you're going to do here at the central office. And I had the opportunity, I don't know, about 16 years ago, 15, 16 years ago, something like that, to work with Dr. Poland now. Uh she did
040an excellent job as a school counselor. She helped me with programs such as Yovaso and we had a a great time doing that. I actually still have the picture that made the newspaper from that. So, uh it's easy to see her love for students, and I'm excited what you're going to do for us, too. Thank you both for coming on board. >> Congratulations to both of you. I've gotten to know both of you a little bit. Um, love Jill with her cander and she'll shoot you straight for sure. Um, but I've enjoyed getting to know both of you. I hope to get to know you a little bit better. But, um, we're so happy to have both of you and congratulations to both of you. Okay. All right. So, we've got item 12.01, hearing of
041citizens for non-aggenda topics, which we do not have any. Item 13.01, report by Reno County School Superintendent, Dr. can nicely >> want to add my uh congratulations and and commendation on the choice of Miss Green and and Dr. Poland for those roles. I've had the privilege of working for or with them for many years as well and just think they're great choices. Uh Miss Green of course a former principal at both Glenn and most recently in North Side and we were so pleased to have gotten her back into Renault County a few years ago and uh and Dr. Poland many years ago was uh my my own uh children's u school counselor when over at William Bird and so I had the first um opportunity to know her then and uh what just really was
042struck out to me stuck out to me uh back then was just uh her commitment to really get to know kids and look out for their best interests. And so congratulations uh to them both and I look forward to the work they'll do in Reno County schools moving forward. Want to once again acknowledge and express our appreciation to you the members of the school board for your dedicated service to the citizens, families, and children of Renault County in honor of school board appreciation month. You're each committed to service and doing your best to make policy and budget decisions that benefit our school system and the public we serve. And on behalf of the employees of Reno County Public Schools, we thank you. Also want to thank again Miss York for her service as schoolboard clerk
043in honor of schoolboard clerk appreciation week and recognize the double duty she does as clerk as well as assistant to the superintendent. So thank you Miss York for your diligent work to help uh keep us all organized and in line. Um we're continuing to celebrate the exceptional work and success of county uh public schools through a variety of outlets. We're pleased to be invited to contribute a chapter to a new book published last week called STEM Century published in collaboration with AASA, the National Superintendent Association in which we uh told the RCPS story to a national audience. Um also Mr. Riley and I were also invited to do a recent interview with media from Carnegie Foundation and we'll be be presenting a session at the VAS superintendent uh superintendent conference um in the spring as
044we're continuing to get the word out about the great work being done in their school system. Our elementary student le conferences took place last week and we received lots of uh feedback from principles and parents about how much they enjoyed participating with our children in a format in which the students themselves are able to talk about what they are learning and reflect on their own progress. The middle school student le conferences will take place on April 21st. And as a reminder, as of right now, April 21st is uh is of course now a non- studentent day since uh schools will be used for polling places for the upcoming referendum. So that'll be a work day for all employees, but a non- studentent day. Our high schools have been busy gearing up for the upcoming opportunity
045ready graduate senior defenses, which is coming up on March 17th and 18th. And of course, as a reminder, that'll be a virtual learning day for students in grades 9 through 11 as seniors present their portfolios in hopes of uh demonstrating their skills and earning an opportunity ready graduate diploma seal and honor court. This will be the second year in which all high schools are participating. And I want to commend and thank Mr. Riley for his leadership in taking the vision I led through the development of the C change framework and the opportunity ready um profile of a graduate and accepting the challenge I gave him to create the opportunity ready uh graduate senior portfolio defenses. His skill, talent and persistence and bringing everyone together to make it um uh make it all real has been
046unmatched and I credit him with thanking or working with the principles to make it a success. So look forward to seeing those. I hope the members of the board can come out and see some of those coming up on March 17th and 18th. Want to thank all of our employees who have taken time to nominate a fellow employee for one of our special awards that we created this year. In keeping with our teamwork and kindness themes, we launched at convocation. Employees have uh been given shoutouts to colleagues for their teamwork, exemplary kindness, being a difference maker, and for have having a golden attitude. Each nominee nominee is recognized in our staff newsletter and was recently sent a special pin to acknowledge their contribution to our RCPS team. The annual district spelling bee was held uh
047last week with middle school students um Ashvin Bin Maraju and Rory Grant battling through a record 73 rounds with Ashvin finally winning. So it was quite a competition. They they're both previous winners of the spelling be. Um, so, uh, congratulations to them both and good luck to Ashen as he represents us in the National Spelling Bee or in the regional spelling be, excuse me. The annual RCPS science fair is this Saturday and that's going to be held at Hidden Valley High School this year. It's been at Northside High School for the past several years. So, it's a Hidden Valley this year and those exhibits open at noon. Uh, so that's when they're open to the public and hope you all be able to come out and help celebrate with our students and their families. The
048series of community meetings educating parents about the dangers of social media and smartphones is continuing. The next sessions are being held at Fort Lewis Elementary on Monday, February 23rd. Mountain View Elementary is Tuesday, March 3rd. Uh Caseing Elementary on Thursday, March 12th, and Glen Cove on Monday, March 16th. And of course, the complete listing of the dates and locations are on the website. And I want to thank um Emily Harrison as well as uh Nancy Hans and Dr. Hughes and the whole team for making sure that those events have been held at and will be held at each of our schools this year. It's quite a feat and a lot of time commitment on their part, but I think it's well worth doing. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Item 14.01, reports and
049inquiries of board members. Dr. White, would you like to go first? >> Sure. So, first off, uh, congratulations again to Miss Green and and Dr. Poland. Um, definitely welldeserved, uh, position ahead of you and and lots of hard work, I'm sure, on it on the horizon. Uh, but I know you both are are wellprepared for it, and it's nothing new for you. Um, I I certainly appreciate all the uh sentiment this evening about uh the hard work and dedication of staff, and that's what truly makes Renault County Public Schools what they are. Um, and I know uh ahead of us we've been talking a lot about budget and numbers and all that. And I hope that uh as we continue to firm up those numbers and our our budget for next year, we keep in
050mind that the uh the humans behind it are uh what truly matters and what is important for the future to come. That's all I really have to say tonight. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. L. >> Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Like to will most likely be brief here. Just want to thank Miss York. Uh Dr. Nicely has kind of stolen all our thunder up here tonight with the school board clerk appreciation week. However, you've done a a tremendous job and based on all those whereasses, I think there may have been more than the board had. So, might need to put her in for a raise, Dr. Nicely. But, um Chuck, well deserved on your awards, too. I want to congratulate you. I'm not sure there's anybody in this building that uh that works
051any harder than you do. And those are are extremely welldeserved awards. So looking forward to the um science fair event tomorrow gonna or Saturday morning, excuse me. Try to get over to Hidden Valley and um tagging in on on that social on the social media events. They have been fantastic. I again reiterate any parents that have an opportunity to go to those, get out and and hear what they say. and and based on what we've heard recently and seen recently, it might be time to start looking into some uh events, similar events on the dangers of vaping. So, I know that Nancy would uh do a nice job with that, too. So, that's all I have. >> Thank you, Mr. Greenway. >> Thank y'all for being brief. >> We know >> because he cannot. So,
052Madame Chair, >> that out loud. I'm sorry. >> So, I I do have a few things to say. Um, I do uh echo the sentiments for for Miss York. I would love to have a speech, but I guess in lie of having a speech. We'll just thank you. Uh, you do keep us straight and and we need to be kept straight, especially some of us more than others, but thank you for everything you do. Chuck, again, the rewards. Uh, as Mr. Lynon said, uh, you know, you're at everything. So, we thank you for all you do. Um, the one big topic I do have tonight and it's fresh on my mind and fresh on all of our minds because we we seem to be dealing with 90% of our expulsion cases now seem to be
053vaping, seem to be related to THC or or some foreign substance of that these kids are getting. And it's uh I'm not very good at speeches so I you know I just wrote down my thoughts but I want to appeal to Governor Spanberger. I want to appeal to uh Chief Po Dexter. I want to chill appeal to all the de state delegates and everyone here to uh realize that this is a huge problem. This isn't just a minor problem, a blip on the radar. This is a huge problem. And I get that we're as adults and in society that we're just legalizing this legalizing everything and everybody can do what they want to do. And our kids hear that and they hear that message and they think it's okay. What what's the big deal? It's
054legalized now. Why can't we do it? It's okay. And for kids and and again I say this to every kid that comes before us that we have to deal with. Um what we're what I've learned over the past decade is, you know, that the brains are still developing. You know, kids aren't adults. And that's that's the huge uh difference here is that they're still developing. You know, if we want to legalize all this stuff and do whatever we want to do for adults, >> whatever, it's fine. But for our kids, we have got to make if if we're going to have these laws, somebody's got to got to start enforcing them. Somebody's got to take them serious. You know, these kids, I ask every kid that comes before us the same same questions. My fellow
055board members hear this every time. And a lot of times they will say, "I walked into such and such place. I walked over here and just went in and got it. Did you get carded?" No. Or they've got to look at the, you know, the camera. If you show me a fishing license, you know, they look at you go and and get it, whatever. But at some point, these kids are getting expelled. They're getting uh addicted. It's not just a and it's not a rich problem. It's not a poor problem. It's not a a minority problem. It's not a Caucasian problem. It's not. It's everybody's problem. It's everybody. And so, somebody at some point, I've said this in these meetings before, and I don't know what the right answers are, and I think uh Dr.
056sold to uh you know for for sending this to our police a couple of times and you know frustrating getting the answer back. Well, there's not much we can do. There's this that or the other or they can do this or that and and and I get everybody's hands seem to be tied. Somebody smarter than me needs to take this project up and figure out how we can make a difference. You know, uh I love the idea that William Bird's thinking about an anti- vaping club. I need to get with uh Mr. Null. I'll sponsor it anonymously. I I'll sponsor it. Um but somebody's got to get a foothold with our kids and say it's not okay. This is not okay for you. And you know, not only the dangers of fentanyl and and all
057the other stuff, but somebody's got to decide or or make a decision that we're going to tackle this problem somehow some way. And I get that education. Let's educate Let's educate them. Let's educate them. I get that that helps, but I don't think that makes the difference that we need uh to to get this done in some fashion, some way to get to our kids. I think actions and and having consequences for these people that that just treat it like a fair uh you know for our kids it just needs to be a problem that somebody takes and tackles and they need all the accolades they get because it'll be a huge help to our our students. So I just want to say that um want to thank all the schools for the recognition, the
058goodies. I mean how nice is this? Uh, no, no better way to my heart than all these goodies. So, thank you for the schools. U William Bird, you know, got a nice package for us and North Side and uh North Side High School, a couple things. So, thank y'all so much. Uh, CTE month, I think, as Dr. Nicely said, I think we're leading the way, you know, with our new school. What an amazing product for Renault County if we use it correctly. If we start bringing in jobs and we start utilizing the abilities of of what we're giving this star on the hill, um I think we can be recognized for that just as well as the star on Mil Mountain Mount. I mean, I just think it's that big of a a deal. And
059hopefully, it's hard as we fought, we got to fight just as hard to start getting these jobs here for our kids to stay here. We got to stop grow start growing the population. I saw a Cardinal News article where Reno City's had more people leave Reno City in the last several years than they have since the 60s or some some crazy statistics that's going to bleed over into Rena County. You know, I know that there's a lot of difference in policies, whatever, but but we've got to we've got to start working and I think CTE is just the shining example on the heel of ways we can get businesses here. So, thank you for all y Uh, Dr. Poland, Miss Green, again, welcome. Thank you for for stepping up and and being a part of
060our team. Um, and and I want to say one last congrats to Dr. Nicely. Thank you for everything you've done. Uh, the reason we're successful, the reason we're in this position is because you stepped in about six or eight years ago and uh, you know, got us to this point. And so we're handing the football off, I get or the handing off the baton or whatever we're handing off to Dr. Sulttus, but but we thank you for where we're at, how you've gotten us here and just, you know, we're we're we're a great example of what hard work can do in public schools. So, thank y'all for everything. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Mr. Hudson. >> Well, I don't think Mr. Greenway left anything for me to say. I'll just echo all of
061his comments. Um, welcome Dr. Poland, Miss Green. So excited. Like I said, I know you both are going to bring such a great accomplishment for us um, in the coming years. Um, like to thank our CTE leadership. I know that you guys are out building programs and partnerships in the community. It's very important to us. Excited about our new infrastructure, but most importantly, what we're going to provide to our kids. Uh, thank you so much for everything that you're doing with that. I saw Carl here earlier. I guess he had to step out, but hope he's doing well and get a chance to speak with him. And uh thank you, Edie, for all that you do for us. You're doing an amazing job. It's always nice to be able to pick up the phone and
062know you're going to take care of whatever we need. Um like to congratulate the Glimmer High School swim team. They just won the state championship last night. That's back to back. I think back to back three time. Okay. >> There's something in the water. >> I tell you, we have this huge sign. We have this huge sign with all the state championships with Glenver. I think we're gonna have to have another one built and that one is probably 20 feet tall. So, seems like we just keep winning, winning, and winning. I know Coach Hall and that group do an amazing job with our kids and it's just a testament to our community, our children, our parents, the community, the coaches. Glenn's a family just like all of our other districts and uh look forward to
063seeing them soon here rec to recognize them. That's all we got. >> Thank you. Um we've had a chance to attend some committee meetings and board meetings recently. So, Mr. Greenway and I attended the CTE general advisory committee meeting recently. Um, just a couple of things that I took away from that. Um, and I think Mr. Sir touched on some of this. The industry insight tours are still those are continuing. I think that's a great opportunity for us and for staff to be able to visit these companies. I think branch is the one that's coming up. Um, some of us visited Carter Machinery once before, but it gives us an opportunity to see what these companies do, what opportunities there are for our students. A lot of them are offering um paid um training and
064they give them jobs right off the right off the bat as soon as they graduate. So, I think those are um a really important thing that we're doing and and continuing to do. Um the other thing I took away from it is the goatee labs. Um it's a big deal. So, we've got um Hidden Valley Middle School and William Bird Middle School are receiving those now. So, these are manufacturing and health science labs. Um, and we've received grants for those labs. So, I think you said we're 150,000 a piece. It's a lot of money, but we've received grants for those. Um, and we, it sounds like the plan is that all of the middle schools um may have them next year. So, that's a big deal. So, that was um something I took away from
065the meeting. Um, also, I think you guys recently held the registered apprenticeship event. There were 20 companies there. Um, that's a big deal. again, great opportunities for our students um to get involved in these apprenticeships. So, we appreciate all that you're doing. Um I also had an opportunity to I I serve on the Renault Valley Governor School Board as well. Um so, they their big um thing right now is their project forum which they just held and we had quite a number of Reno County students who won awards for their projects through the Renault Reno Valley Governor School. And then, as um Dr. Nicely mentioned, we have our own science fair this Saturday, which I do love to attend every year. It's great to see our students and and the projects that they've done. Uh
066yesterday, Dr. Nicely and I had an opportunity to visit Green Valley Elementary, Pin Forest, and Bat Creek, and then Kring High School. Um so, Dr. Nicely and I do this twice a year every year. So, I'm sad to say that next Wednesday will be our last opportunity to do this together. Um but I do enjoy visiting the schools and seeing the students and the teachers in their classrooms. Um, my takeaway always is that our students are so polite and respectful and well behaved and engaged. That's the big piece of it. These students are engaged and it's because their teachers are offering these really engagement, really engaging um, assignments. So, we saw some pretty cool things yesterday. So, I'm just going to I know I can't touch on all of them, but we did see some
067cool things. Um, so we saw some students learning about laps time and they were actually they had passports that they were having to get stamped when they moved from one country to the next, which I thought was really a great way to bring that home. Um, so that was in one of the classrooms. Um, we had students that were learning about reflection and refraction. They were going around the classroom and observing different objects and um, and had to answer those questions. So that was really cool. Um, we saw history students at the high school making silent films. It's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. talk about bringing home an assignment. Those kids are never going to forget that he showed us some of them. Some of these students are acting in these silent
068films and then some of them are able to use AI to make those silent films. But um when you're talking about prohibition and and that time frame, it's a great way to bring that home. So, I thought that was really cool. Um we saw mummified apples yesterday. That was interesting. Um and we saw a gym class that was holding um the Winter Olympic Games, which was very cool. the kids were in involved in different events and they were mimicking the game. So, that was really cool. Um, let's see what else did we see? Oh, there was one teacher that was doing she was really trying to u make these reading assignments they were doing more interesting. So, she had brought in Beatles music for reference because obviously these students don't know who the Beatles are.
069So, she did that which I thought was really cool. And then next week um the story was about bugs and so and eating bugs and so she's bringing in the chocolatecovered bugs for next week. So that was very cool. Yeah. Um and then we saw some students at the high school. I mean the kids seem to think it was cool. I don't think I would eat them, but um the Kring High School students, we did see them working on their portfolios um which is also really cool to see. And I just wanted to show this. Um the principal um Haley Deetsz at the high school has designed these um invitations which I think are super fancy. And if we're going to make a big deal out of these um senior defenses, then I think inviting
070our parents to join and making a big deal of it is a really cool way to do it. And so I just want to give a shout out to her because I thought this was a great idea. Um so anyways, we saw some great things. I think we always do. I'm always impressed with our students and our teachers and I'm I'm glad that >> Mr. Clemens I I I hesitate to interrupt you but you you left off the highlight of our visit which was echoed today at North Side High School by the way in their yearbook class and that is and I can't remember if it was the Pen Forest class or the Green Valley class. >> All of the whole class insisted that I could not possibly be older than 30 years old >>
071which I appreciated. >> That is that is true. >> Miss Green's uh north side I don't know if you told him to say this or not. Their yearbook class also insisted that I could not possibly be over the 35. So I they're both officially my favorite classes. So yeah, that did happen. Left that out. >> That did happen yesterday. I'm sorry. >> Did they think they got extra credit or something? >> I don't know. >> Well, I'm pretty sure I'm pretty sure the elementary school students had no idea. >> I mean, no offense or >> Wow. >> Sorry. That's that was terrible. I'm sorry. That is not what I meant. the high school students might have been looking for extra credit. That's what I meant. Sorry. Anyways, I'm sorry that I failed to mention that.
072But it was a good day and we have we will visit the rest of the schools um next week and I do enjoy it. It's a lot of fun. So um also congratulations to Chuck Lberger on your awards and thank you to Edie York. We um as a chair I get to um spend a little bit extra time with you. We um communicate really well and she answers my questions always really quickly. So I appreciate that. So, congratulations to you as well. And do we have anything else? >> Are you sure? >> Yeah. Well, I thought you'd never quit. >> Oh, please, Tim. I'm I'm sure if we go back and look at the time, mine is half of yours. Meeting adjourned.