001[music] I'd like to call our meeting back to order. Mr. Greenway, would you please read us out of closed? >> Yes. Thank you. 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 2.2-3711. 3711 A2 of the code of Virginia and to certify that to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under the under this chapter and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard discussed or considered in the meeting by the school board >> second madam cl >> yes ma'am >> Mr. London. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Greenway. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr.
002Hson. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Clemens. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Item 2.03, action from closed. >> Yes, madam chair. I move that student number ex 20225-2026 number 10 be expelled from Rono County Public Schools. >> Second. >> Madame Clerk. >> Dr. White. >> Abstain. >> Mr. London. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Greenway. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Hudson. Yes, ma'am. >> Clemens. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Madam Chair, I'd like to make a motion to allow students RE 2025 through 2026 23 through 29 to be released from compulsory attendance pursuant to 22.1-254-B1 of the code of Virginia 1950 as amended. >> Second, >> Madame Clerk. >> Dr. White. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. London. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Greenway. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Hudson. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Miss Clemens. >> Yes, ma'am. >>
003Welcome everyone. Will you please stand for the pledge of allegiance? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Item 4.01, announcement of changes in the agenda. We do not have any. Item 4.02, approval of agenda. Do we have a motion to approve the agenda? >> I'll make the motion to approve the agenda. >> Second, >> Madame Clerk. >> Dr. White. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. London? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Greenway? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Hudson? >> Yes, ma'am. >> M. Clemens. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Item 5.01, 01 recognition of Glenford High School 2026 BMEA Senior Honors Choir, Nick Fradichelli, and Miss Shannon Norman. >> Okay, >> we've just been informed
004he's running a little behind, so we wondered if we could do the Glen Elementary first. He's in the parking lot. I think there was a wrong turn at some point, so [laughter] but he he he will be here shortly. >> Okay, thank you. All right, we'll move to item 5.02. 02 school spotlight. Glenn Elementary School, Miss Christy Stanley. >> So, I promise I did not know they were coming. I did not pay them. They are not getting any special treatment. But if I'm being honest, I would almost not even have to do this now because this is what I came to talk about and about the the culture we'll build we're building, the positivity, the kindness that everybody feels as they come in our building. And this is what we are. This is what we
005are like daily. So I will still do my presentation though. Thank y'all very much. All right. So Glenn Elementary School. Good things are happening at Glenn Elementary School thanks to these guys. Um we were built in 1959. We have done some expansion and some renovations and the building is still holding up pretty well and we're pretty proud of it. We are the Grizzlies. So this year we wanted to focus on STEM and STEM was going to get us to our deeper learning and our more engaged activities. The way we're doing that is we started a STEM lab this year in our building that we did not have and I felt like that was important to have. We also got a 3D printer, the Lego spike kits. We are doing a solar car race. Um we
006will not be in the county one but we are doing it afterwards where we're doing a full race day, a whole theme where we're going to have these guys race tricycles along with the solar cars. So, we also have design briefs, lessons with our ITRT, and we're making sure that our teachers have the PD opportunities to use all these things we're bringing into the building. So, here is where our kindergarteners started with the 3D printing. This was in the beginning of the school year and they were doing letter recognition along with their curriculum. And so, they got on the iPads with their teachers and a lot of help and they started typing out their names and then they got to see it. They got to review things and correct and edit even at that age.
007And then they were able to put them through the the printer and see how they came out. I do have a couple to show you that they did. This is what they came out looking like. They have little hooks and they have their name that's on them and so they can put these on their book bags. So all of our kindergarters and first graders have done that. The first graders were very excited about it and they're going to go a little further next month and with the book the mitten they are going to draw out with doodles. uh we have these doodle pads. They're going to draw out the animals they want in their mittens and then they each get to create one of their animals to put in an actual mitten and carry around.
008So, we're very excited about our our STEM in 3D printing. Second grade did a really cool math coding with the 3D printer. It included symmetrical shapes. It included even numbers. It was coding. It was reviewing and editing. They got to plan this. This is Holly Ireland, our ITRT, who was fabulous. wanted to be here but couldn't. Um, she is leading the lesson and teaching them how to code things. That is what they will see. Those are two pictures of what they are seeing on their machine that they get to then edit and they get to review. They pick they made three of them and they picked one to print. The top is what it looks like going in. The one they print we put on the that that piece of paper like that. It goes
009in and the bottom is what it comes out. And I actually have one of theirs too to show you how they made their snowflakes which I thought were really really cool because it gets very detailed and they are very proud of that. So one other thing we're embracing along with STEM is that we want to think of our not just what we're doing but what we are and we are scientists and we are exploring and we are investigating and we are doing things that make us go wow. I like to always talk to my my the students at lunch and we would talk about like the the incredible facts that you know that in science and how in how wonderful science is and how it just blows your mind. We call them mind-blowing moments. Here
010we show some of our scientists from Miss Bee's class and we have a whole bulletin board. I couldn't put everybody's picture because not everybody could be photographed, but of them they are in lab coats. They are dressed like the scientists. They are embracing their role as a scientist. They're using at the top they were using copper circuits tape to put onto a picture that they made that no there has to be some element that would light up. So, they got to be creative and and think about how to do it. They collaborated sometimes with each other about how to do things. And they created these pictures that then had a light up feature through copper tape circuits. The bottom they're learning about force and motion and they went to the gym with PE class and
011they did bowling. They did bowling activities. It wasn't your typical bowling like you're keeping score, but they had different mats, as you can see, that had different edges and different um levels of friction to see how that would slow the ball down and what the the force how the way the ball hit the pins and the way they would move. So, you got friction and force and direction and motion all in that that they got to see for themselves. And you can see those who aren't actually doing it are sitting on the floor with their uh notes and they're taking notes about what they see because this increases how they learn. They will remember that so much more and our teachers are buying into that and they believe that. Couple more scientists. We have some
012sound pan flutes talking about pitch and frequency. We have the light reflection they did where they're using how light rays move and how they're straight but how they can bounce and reflect off of things to hit targets. That's the one thing you can't see. They actually have a target they have to hit and so they have to use the different uh angles of the mirror to hit the target. So our discover program is Something I'm also very proud of that's formerly the gifted program and our gifted teacher Kim Filer is a fantastic teacher. She leads them through so many activities. This one was particularly impressive. They were doing a stream sampling where they went out and dug up invertebrates and other materials out in a stream in a wooded area behind our school. brought it
013in and by looking at the the the resources they pooked up and the materials they picked up decided what the health of that stream was. Then they simulated things at the bottom. They simulated streams that would be more beneficial to these uh invertebrates and these animals that they found. It was very deep deeper learning. It was very critical thinking and it was it was just amazing and they loved it. They could not stop talking about it. One of the areas I am extremely proud of also, not that it's just a few, but our fax class is amazing. Our teacher, Miss Cwley, is amazing. These kids are learning. They're having fun. There is an inclusivity that I have never seen anywhere else with these kids. We have at the bottom down here, and by the way,
014facts because I always forget exactly what that means. for our fact class, it is functional, academic, accessibility, career, and transition skills, and that's what they focus on. So, down here at the uh right corner, they're learning how to grow gardens, and they actually grew peppers for us last year. We are picking them up. We had little tomatoes growing all summer. We were very thankful for that. So, thanks, Rebecca. Um, we have Lincoln who's so excited because he's making butter. Rowan's using her adaptable device down here to run the mixer. And Luke is so excited because he's doing a cloud experiment with the uh food coloring to simulate the rain. Like I said, we really push the inclusion with our fax classes and the kids in the whole school embrace that and they they just they
015love being part of things to the point that we don't just send our fax students into the general education classrooms. We bring their peers into the classroom with them. And this is their friends giving where the kids got to make their lists. They got to set put a menu together. They went to Kroger as a field trip. They shopped for everything. They brought it back. I will say they cooked. You know, some of the some of the choices might have been Cheetos, but whatever. Um, but they got to do all that together and they invited each two peers to come in from their grade and from their class and they had a huge party. We were in there with them dancing. It was fun. The kids were having so much fun. They loved it. And
016it it was just something they're building relationships that cannot be beat. So, like I said when I first started, the thing that everything works in the school like that is because of the culture that is being built there now. And and these guys and how wonderful they are and how positive they are. Like I said, I didn't even know they were coming there. And that's it's it's amazing to me, but it's not shocking that they showed up like they did. And that's the way they treat each other and that's the way they treat their students in the building. And it's just you can walk into our building and it's a wonderful feel. It's a happy environment. It's a kind environment. We started out this year trying to build that community and that family by asking
017Mr. Hudson to come and be our guest chef and he came for a cookout and cooked like a hundred burgers for us all day. And it was wonderful. We have we appreciated that. We have a wonderful SRO and our guidance counselor, the wonderful Sarah Williams there. We those are our parents in the bottom. They're just happy to be there when they can and help out. So, and that is one of our fax students with his buddy Linux. Um Linux is in the general education population. Lincoln's there and they're having lunch together. So, it is a wonderful place to be. PBIS is something that if you ever see our our Facebook is something that we're we're really pushing. We have a schoolwide goal to go to the hockey game as the school the the Railard Dogs
018does an educational day hockey game and we're going to that if we fill our jar which we will and they come in and the thing is and as you can see I don't even have to tell you they're excited and they're buying into it because you can see on their faces. I love the girl in the back with the hands up. I mean that's how they were. They're so excited. They'll walk up to me and say Miss Stanley I got two marbles today. We got to put them in our jar. Miss Stanley, they said, "If we do this, we'll get another marble." They're loving it. They're buying into it and it's creating a very positive environment for them that they are in control of. And the last thing, they're laughing. The last thing, just in
019case you don't believe how our relationships are building so strongly and how the bond we have, these are my little fabulous fifth graders that saw Disney on Ice with the Toy Story in it. So, if you know anything about Toy Story, when Andy comes around, the toys have to go inanimate because they're not supposed to be alive. So, they decided my name sounded a little like Andy. The first time this happened, I had Miss Nukem with me. We were walking down the hall and she was like, "What is going on?" I was like, "Oh, it's embarrassing." But this is what they did. They yell out, "Miss Stanley's coming." And they hit the ground. [laughter] And it doesn't matter where. I could come in to pop into their room to say good morning. They do that.
020They lean again everywhere. They're still doing it, by the way. [laughter] But just so you know, I did get them back a little bit. It was last week, I think. >> Last week, um, I saw them coming first, so I said, "Fifth grade's coming." And I hit the ground. [laughter] Took me a little bit longer to get up. My hip might be a little bruised, but we're not going to talk about that. >> [snorts] >> And in case you don't believe just all the pictures, I'm going to let you hear from them. Um, I've got about a little twominut snapshot of some students. And just so you know how to set this up that you set up a microphone and an iPad and we said if you want to have something if you want to
021say something positive about Glenver and your experience at Glend, you're welcome to. That's it. We didn't say what to say. We didn't say you had to. Like I said, it's about two minutes. It could have been about 20. I had to cut it down. We are going to make a movie of all 20 minutes of it and share it with the kids together one day. But I wanted you to see this. >> I went to my first cheer game at Blind. >> I helped someone study for a test and I got an A. >> I transferred here to Bloom. It's really nice. We had so many STEM experiments. >> People being really nice to me on the first day of school. >> One good thing that has happened to me at Glenver Elementary is I
022have gotten a really nice class who are kind. >> I like Glenver because the cafeteria is nice. >> My favorite thing about this school year is when we got to pour the marbles into the marble jar. And when I came here, I didn't expect anything more, but I got a lot in return. >> I got a letter saying I could get into AMP. >> Something good that's happened at Glimmer this year is we got a 3D printer and our kids absolutely love being able to code to make things that are then printed on the 3D printer. >> I got straight A's and I also won the push-up challenge with 36. >> I like to make ice cream with science. I got a home run in kickball. I'm proud of my excel growth. >> One thing
023that I really love about this school year at Glimmer is [music] that my students are so kind to each other and to me. >> I'm glad that the school brought back essay and I could be part of it. >> I'm glad that I met new friends and a new principal, Miss Stanley. I've been paying more attention in class. One good thing that happened this year is me playing with Jackson outside and having a lot of fun. >> Um, something happened really good to me. I made new friends. It was a miracle to me. >> We're cousins and we teach at Glenn Elementary together. It's a family affair. >> And we love all the staff and we love all the students, but secretly we love being [music] together. >> This school is so beyond expectations. It's
024really clean and everyone's good here. >> I love all the glimmer colors. >> There's no other encore teachers like the encore teachers at least. [screaming] >> So, [applause] I would like to take credit for it, but it's them. And thank y'all very much for letting me have this moment to come up here and talk about why I'm so proud of the Glenn community and my school. >> Thank you for coming. >> Miss Stanley, you've done an awesome job. You took over, you know, a couple years ago and you have fostered such a loving environment there for the students and obviously the staff love you and I'm just proud of everything that you've accomplished in the staff. Thank you guys. You guys work miracles every single day and it never goes unnoticed. You're what makes Glimmer
025special. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Stand Go back. All right. Thank you. >> You think so? >> So, did they come in? That was one of the best presentations we've had. >> I know. So cute. They're so cute. >> Well, and I loved um all the stuff that she's doing with STEM. I mean, that's huge that she's doing it schoolwide. It's not just, you know. >> Yeah. Very cool. >> Okay. >> All right. So, Lord, you better keep those germs. All right, so we're going to go back to item 5.01, recognition of Blender High School 2026 BMEA Senior Honors Choir. Nick Fredichelli, Miss Shannon Norman. All right. Good evening, Madame Chair, members of the school board, Dr. Nicely, and Dr. Sulttus. Tonight, I'm pleased to recognize Nick Fredelli, a 12th grade student at Glennor High
026School for his outstanding musical achievements. Nick has been a member of the Glen High School choir for two years and in 2025 was selected for the VMEA Honor Choir. He was just he was one of just 138 students selected for more than 700 who auditioned. In addition to this incredible honor, he has also been selected for the district 6 choir both in 25 and 26 and the all state choir in 25. [snorts] In addition to choir, Nick is an accomplished alto saxoponist, earning third chair in the district symphonic band this year and receiving district chair placements from 23 through 26. He's also been selected for the Virginia Tech Honor Band in 24, 25, and 26. His musical background includes 10 years with the Rono Valley Children's Choir, four years of alto saxophone study, 10 years
027of piano lessons, and service as an accompanist for choirs at both Glen High School and the Rono Valley Children's Choir. Nick's success reflects the strength of our music programs. And I would like to thank Sarah Smith, his director, Nick Alfred, the band director at Glenn, and Nick's family, for their continued support and dedication. Nick, we are so proud of the way you represent Glenn High School and Rono County Public Schools. Congratulations on your achievements and thank you for sharing your talents with our community. [applause] >> [applause] >> I see he didn't bring his saxophone, so I guess he's going to sing for us. [laughter] Item 6.01 report by student advisory council representative Mr. Bayer Tyrie. >> Good evening madam chair, Dr. Nicely, Dr. Sulttus, and members of the board. Thank you for the opportunity to
028share an update from the SACE meeting held on January 7th, 2026. The council welcomed Nancy Hans, the executive director of the partnership for community wellness, who discussed upcoming wait until grade 8 community meetings aimed at raising awareness about the impact of cell phones and social media on elementary and middle school students. Students discussed the long-term effects of early smartphone smartphone use and the role order older students can play as a positive role models. SACE members were encouraged to attend and support these community meetings. Council also welcomed Jamie Estrada, the supervisor of nutrition, who provided an overview of the school nutrition program. The group provided feedback feedback on school nutrition at the middle school and high school level. Strada shared plans to increase fresh and locally sourced items when possible and continue improving meal quality within
029federal guidelines. Srada is also excited to work with our group more closely to gain student insight on the nutrition program. She even mentioned using the SACE for future taste testing taste testing and sampling of the products. The council engaged in a structured discussion regarding the potential amendment to the SACE bylaws related to attendance expectations. Members explored several possible approaches, including tiered warnings, communication requirements, recognition of extracurricular conflicts, and leadership discretion. No vote was taken, but a motion was approved to table the discussion and distribute a student survey to gather broader feedback. Student representatives shared updates from their schools, including in Valley High School's DECA competition preparation and implementation of monthly club club days. Cape Spring High School's winter sports updates and planning for a mental health awareness basketball game. William Bird's William Bird discussed the
030elementary school marching band outreach and continued recognition of community service efforts. Northside High School's athletic updates and discussions around opportunity ready student portfolios. Denver High School's planning for a human trafficking awareness initiative in the coming months. Middle school shared updates that included spirit weeks, disability awareness events, community service projects, and academic workload feedback. At next month's meeting, the council will welcome Ben Williams, the director of assessment and research, and Susan Peterson, the director of finship finance. Thank you for your continued support of the student leadership and student voice in Reno County Public Schools. >> Thank you. Item 7.01, hearing of citizens for agenda topics. We do not have any. Item eight, consent agenda. Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved. Second. >> Madame Clerk. >> Dr. White. >> Yes,
031ma'am. >> Mr. London. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Greenway. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Hudson. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Clemens. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Item 9.01, 01 request for approval to construct a softball field at William to say [laughter] William Bird Middle School. Mr. Todd Kaggels, I don't know what was wrong with me. Madame Chair, members of the board, Dr. Nicely, Dr. Sulttus, uh if you will recall, back in uh November, uh Chuck, the other graphic. Back in November, the school board approved funding for the architecture and engineering services for a potential softball field to be constructed in the open field behind William Bird Middle School. That would be that open space to the south plan south of the current softball field right there. A survey has been conducted and Chuck, if we could get
032the other survey graphic, please. Thank you. survey has been conducted and the initial layout plans have been received. The full grading plans and construction documents are expected to be completed in the next two to three weeks. The initial layout documents have confirmed that a softball field constructed to the recommended NFHS dimensions will fit in the available space. If the board wishes to proceed with construction of the softball field at Williamsburg Middle School, staff recommends appropriation of $250,000 from minor capital special projects that cover the cost of construction. Do we have a motion to approve the softball field? >> I'll make a motion to softball. >> I'll second >> discussion. >> Few questions maybe for Mr. Mr. Kaggles. Do you think the $250,000 is sufficient to to make sure that everything that needs to be done
033gets done? >> I do. >> And the final documents are due in when? uh they were originally promised around the end of January. So we're, you know, we're saying two to three weeks, but hopefully in the next week or so. Uh and just to go back to your previous question, we feel like that budget is uh pretty safe budget uh that we ought to be able to actually come in underneath that >> and the approximate cost to maintain a softball field, 200 foot softball field each year. In terms of what operations pays for, which is only mowing, uh it's about $2,000. The um the rest of the uh maintenance costs are typically borne by the by the schools. >> I don't have any other questions. I do I could probably get behind behind this if
034if the timing were a little bit better. Um asking Dr. White to vote on a motion that he hasn't been briefed on without the final documentation on the engineering plans. It just being added to the agenda yesterday. It obviously can't be ready for this season. Be nice if we could get all that information, look at it as a group at uh at next month's work session, I think. But um having an accurate final cost, a very accurate final cost, I could probably get behind it. But without that information, um without all the engineering and everything else, I I don't know that um spending $250,000 hoping that it comes in at that is um is a good use of taxpayer dollars at the moment. So I'm not going to support this. >> Let's talk about the
035positives. Mr. Greenway, why don't you speak about the positives of having a field on your grounds? >> Sure. So, uh, currently we have softball facilities for the varsity. They cover the varsity, the JV, and the middle school. And so, our kids have to leave campus. They have to take a U bus to haul the uh equipment to the uh, good park and the kids walk down there. Same thing with baseball. Um, some point I may not be here, but I hope somebody gets it on campus where it's a little closer. We don't live in the times that we had 25, 30 years ago. You know, a deranged person comes down there, they're just kind of out there outside the campus. And it we've got the space. Uh many of our uh high school facilities and
036uh middle school facilities now have dualpurpose uh you know have a softball field at the high school, have a softball field at the middle school and maybe most of them except for one. >> Yeah. And I was going to mention that we're in the same situation and I had actually asked Todd to take a look at that a couple years ago but the cost was quite a bit more than 250 because of the land layout and what would have to be done. So, um, it's something that I would love to get done at some point for the same reasons you're speaking of. I actually coached baseball at Glend Middle and for a numerous reasons, it was very hard to have you have to wait on a bus to come back and pick your kids up
037to take you to Green Hill Park, which you end up being last to the field when you're technically the home team. Um, you know, again, the safety aspect of nobody's out there, you know, it's kind of different when you're not on school ground. So, I agree with you with that piece. >> And this and this is nothing new. Mr. Lyndon uh you know bucks a lot of things we do uh in the Venton district. I hope Bonsack folks are are listening to this. I hope the Venton people are listening to this. Um he does this quite often so it's nothing really new. Um we didn't have cost for the uh football field that we put in over at North Side before we did it. We didn't have cost for the lights that we put over
038at North Side before we did it. Uh we didn't have cost for a lot of the projects we've done over there. I support them because our students deserve uh the best that we can provide and uh they deserve the facilities to be equitable. I don't say equal, but equitable around the county and that's what we're trying to do. This field won't be uh won't be quite as long as the official I guess varsity soft. >> No, it'll be full 200 foot chess field. >> Okay. So, u but you know uh it gives us practice facilities. We stay on campus. But again, Mr. Lynon, nothing new. Hope Bonsack residents are listening to this. Um, you know, this has been on the table for five, six months. We've talked about maybe maybe eight or 10 months and
039we've already done the engineering for this is nothing. I mean, this is, you know, he he he makes it like it's out of the blue. I mean, it's such a joke, but nonetheless, we're used to, >> as I said, I could get behind it if >> the entire board had been briefed on it and discuss it at next month's work session. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> A couple things I would just um mention, unless Are you still >> Yeah. No, you're good. >> Um, so we and Mr. Kgles and I talked about this a little bit today. The one thing that I had asked was, do we think there's going to be any real changes between now and this final version that that you do get? and it doesn't sound like you think there would
040be um any major changes between what we have here. Um and then also the other thing to point out which I've learned a lot about these fields over the last couple of years is that his um property is pretty flat. So we you don't expect a lot of grading which we know is is the pretty expensive part of this. So I think that's why you were kind of saying that you don't anticipate that the cost would go over and may even come under if I >> and we have a ton of dirt. >> Yes, that's true. Yeah. So explain that better than I can. But >> to Mr. Greenway's point, uh because we have been talking about this, uh for I think over a year now, >> uh we did when we first were asked
041about it, we did uh initial work and got quotes on fencing, uh the grading, and um everything else we thought we were going to need. Uh and then we based the budget on that. So we didn't just, you know, pull it out of the air. We we based that on some information. >> Well, I wasn't accusing. So, I know all of it is now expired. It'll have to be redone >> by Mr. London. So, it'll all have to be redone to get, you know, super accurate pricing now. But, uh, it's >> I'm confident it's going to be less than than what we've asked for for a budget. >> And I I I would agree with Mr. Greenway that I feel like we have we have we have talked about this a lot at Nauseium, I
042would say. Um, so I feel like this is something that's been discussed over a period of of time. Um, and it was something that we discussed the last go round with our funding. Um, and and we discussed that there were a lot of things on that list that were maybe a higher priority at that time. Um, and that we would come back around to this when we got new funding and um, that was my word that I gave and I will stick by that. So, >> yeah, if I can just chime in, I I certainly appreciate the acknowledgement that I'm the new person on the block walking into a vote on something that I haven't been involved in. So, I do appreciate that. For me, I I think the uh unfortunate timing is just that
043we have ongoing conversation in the broader community about uh how we're spending money in general. Um and I I think on my part, um it makes me a little uncomfortable to uh acknowledge this when I'm just learning about the uh budget and figuring out where we can make savings in the future. So, um I I will likely be abstaining from voting, but uh I know that's not going to impact. I appreciate it. >> Does any more discussion, >> Madame [clears throat] Clerk? >> Dr. White, >> abstain. >> Mr. London. >> No, ma'am. >> Mr. Greenway. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Hudson. >> Yes, ma'am. >> M. Clemen. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. All right. Item 10, information. We do not have any. Item 11.01, hearing of citizens for non-aggenda topics. We do not have any.
044Item 12.01, report by Reno County School Superintendent, Dr. Nicely. >> You have one of those. >> We do. >> Good evening, members of the board. Um, just want to give a shout out again to uh Miss Stanley, the group there at Glenn Elementary School. But one thing that stood out to me in her presentation was just uh her own love for learning. I love the way she talks about um students uh not just learning about science but seeing themselves as scientists, not just learning about grammar and uh you know vocabulary but you know seeing themselves as authors and writers or you know musicians and I think that's the heart of what we mean when we talk about deeper learning in county public schools. Her own personal love for learning as you can see is contagious.
045Uh so I really appreciate really appreciate her leadership uh coming to Glenn Elementary School and obviously um uh the teachers there and the students have a a really good time and a good experience and appreciate being there. Um also want to begin this evening by again congratulating all of our music educators in Reno County, the talented students who participate in our music programs at all levels. We're from a high school student this evening. um they all put so much time into their craft and whether they perform in groups or individually, they just really continue to um amaze. This evening at the Berkeland Center, our annual student registered apprenticeship showcase um is being held featuring over 20 businesses from across the region who are willing to employ high school students and apprenticeships for which students earn
046high school credit, get valuable experience, and get paid. It's a great uh great program. I appreciate some and thank our CTE uh team for the amazing work they do in coordinating these opportunities for our students and leading the way in the state. Last week uh was principal appreciation week and as I've said many times I know um we have the best team of school administrators of any school division in Virginia. No doubt in my mind about that. Um you know the role of the principal, the assistant principles is often a difficult job. It's a thankless job sometimes, but their work is so important and they make a difference for students every day. Want to give a shout out to Senora Amy Bolan, Spanish teacher at Cave Spring, for inviting me to her Spanish 4 and
047AP Spanish classes these last couple days and actually trusting me to enough to do a little teaching. Uh, admittingly, uh, my Spanish felt a little rusty, but the students played along and hopefully learned something new. It was a great experience and I'm always amazed at our students in all of our schools and their enthusiasm for learning. I'm also grateful for all of our teachers from preschool to high school, their care for students and their inspiration for learning. Also want to thank um Nancy Hans, Emily Harrison, Dr. Hughes, uh Mr. Limeberger for their dedication to leading our ongoing series of community meetings for parents about the very real dangers of social media and smartphone use among kids. In the last two weeks, they led meetings at Bonsack, Herman Horn, and Glenn Middle. And the next ones
048are coming up u clearbrook tomorrow evening, Burlington on Monday, Mount Pleasant next Thursday, and Green Valley on February 3rd. The complete listing is on um the Runup County Public School website. And that that's really been a um a concerted effort, an amazing dedication of time on their part to attend these meetings. Um, I think it's really, you know, making a difference to get the word out and take time to get around to each of the schools, including the elementary schools, um, to take that message. Speaking of next week, we are very mindful of the winter storm warning that's been announced for this weekend and the expected impact on road conditions heading into next week. Uh I want to take the opportunity to thank our maintenance and transportation teams under Todd Gel Kaggels, uh Jeff Mechum
049and Jerry Huard, Kathy King for all their hard work in responding to weather situations and advising us on when we can safely open schools with major uh weather events and Mr. Limeberger sent out a message to parents earlier this evening when we're expecting these major weather events. We do try to plan ahead and have alerted parents, students, and teachers that if we're out of school more than three days, which is a possibility, we are prepared to announce a virtual learning day if needed on day four. We don't like to pull that trigger um very often, but if we anticipate multiple days, uh that's something that we um you know, put into the mix. So, we're hoping that's not going to be the case, but we are prepared to to do that if necessary. want to
050thank our our teachers and principles uh for all the hard work they uh put into you know making that happen for that eventuality. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. And don't let him fool you because he is he speaks fluently when we when we go to the Spanish classrooms and he speaks with the and I took like four or five years of Spanish. I don't remember any of it and he that's true and he goes in and he's having full conversations. So he is he's misleading you on that. So, >> all right. Item 13.01, reports and inquiries of board members. Dr. White, would you start us off? >> Yeah. Thank you. Um, and I guess this being my first meeting, I want to uh say a few words just to share my gratitude and
051appreciation for being here. Um, and oftentimes I I think through everything I say and write it down and then forget half of it. So, um, some of it I will read so I don't forget what I what I say here. So, thank you to my fellow board members, uh, to Dr. Nicely, Dr. Sulttus, um, Eddie, and all of the division directors and staff that have helped orient me to being part of the team. I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to serve on this board alongside y'all. Um, and I also, uh, want to make sure to thank my family and friends who have supported me this past year through the, uh, unfortunately political process for a non-political position. Um, one of those things I never thought I would um, get involved in politics. Um, and and
052to the community who came out and and uh voted. Your your voice absolutely matters. And to all the community that continues to come out to uh school boards and participate and and share your uh concerns and and visions for our school, uh your voice absolutely matters. Please keep doing that. Um, I hope as we work together on the board in the the future, we continue to foster meaningful community engagement and uh apply some thoughtful consideration to public input um and to uh take some time to digest public comments and how it um may influence decisions. Um but as was uh alluded to briefly earlier, um first kind of months in this role is jumping right into all the financial reports. Um, and Susan Peterson does a great job to provide us with a very thick
053book. It's about 300 pages of uh, finance and and data and numbers and charts. Um, things that I I normally don't have to stare at as a physician, but uh, here we are. Um, I I've taken some time to digest some of it. I'm trying to wrap my head around it. And I appreciate Dr. were nicely pointing out during our first work session that despite what all the numbers are are what they look like there, we do have tools like the C change framework um to help us align our budget to uh what our values are in the institutional purpose. So, so I hope to be able to apply that uh to understand the numbers better. Um and uh yeah, above everything else, I'm truly grateful to be here and uh thank you all. I'm
054honored to begin this work. Thank you, Mr. London. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to to welcome Dr. White. Um, congratulations on your victory back in November. We've obviously seen you on the other side of the podium uh numerous times, but look forward to getting to know you and and working with you over the next four years. So, what a great presentation by Glender Elementary School. Obviously, it's easy to see why they call that Highlander heaven out there. uh she was just so contagious and so upbeat. It was a great presentation. So had a chance to visit the CTE center last week with some folks from Curillion and just very excited about uh how far along that has come. I hadn't been up there in in over three months and um that is
055something that this community is going to be extremely proud of. So excited about what 2026 holds. We've got We Gundiff and Glen Cove Elementary Schools getting ready to open and then by the end of the year uh open up Rono County Career and Technology Center. So 2026 should be a great year. But hope everybody enjoys the snow this weekend and be safe. >> Thank you, Mr. Great. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Um I too would like to welcome Mr. Dr. White. uh look forward to speaking with you and interacting with you on the board. Um and and unlike you, I don't write things down. I usually go from the hip and that you know, you'll figure out how that gets me in trouble. But um we had a lot of things going on over the
056last uh month or so. We I don't guess we've been together for like six or eight weeks. It's been a while. Not eight, but about six or seven weeks. It's been a long time since the 1 of December for a for a meeting. Um, we had the cell phone uh policy meeting at Herail Horn the other night. We had about 28 or 30 families which was well attended. Uh, maybe one of the better ones at the elementary level. And so I was I was pleased with that. And again, people seem to be engaged listening. Uh, I hope they uh share it with the friends that weren't there. I've got grandkids that are there and not one of the parents were there. So, uh, I'm giving, uh, my group a little bit of grief for not
057showing up, uh, and sending I sent them text messages and they get the subtle hints that only parents can give that, uh, they should have been there and it was just just a really good uh, Miss Hans and her group does such a nice job with that and such a poignant message and hope many families listen to that. Also, uh, Dr. nicely is helping with uh some plaque work on uh some teacher appreciation areas that we're going to be putting in at the Venton district schools. And Mr. Lynon, you'll be glad to know this isn't going to cost us a dollar. Uh it's coming out of funds that were donated to the school uh through Venton Musl and uh a family uh Jack and Carolyn Mills gave us some money. So, uh, each one of
058those are paid for and something it's, uh, my way of, uh, and and, uh, school's way of showing appreciation for our teachers and our staff and, uh, everyone that, uh, services our kids at these schools and and what they mean to our communities. It's amazing. These folks are absolutely uh, God's gift to us uh, in many ways. And so, um, and when you hear the stories and like a lot of us do on on the board that, uh, the principles and and the teachers and the staff and custodians and the nutrition specialist and everyone go through in a day, it's quite amazing. And these people, it's this isn't much, but it's just a nice little token to show them our appreciation. Maybe they can go out, have lunch, and, you know, when it's nice outside
059and so forth. And again, Dr. Nicely is provides a little memorial for the plaques and wording I guess for the plaques and it will uh hopefully uh be received in the manner that it's meant that we we thank you to the fun stuff where I'm the bad cop and I'm going to try and cut this down because I've been asked to cut it down from the request from the other side and uh from my fellow members but I'd ask you to go read my Facebook post. I mean every word of it and it's uh just is the way it is. Um but you know I'll speak to what comments were made by Mr. Mahoney on shared services. We had this discussion um a couple years ago he and I went and ate at u place
060I can't think of the name over next to Buffalo Wild Wings. Anyway, we had a a lunchon and we talked about shared services and had some really good discussion about it. I asked him about it on a walk through through Gundiff uh not six or eight months ago and apparently he couldn't get any traction for the idea of doing this with the shared services with his other fellow board members. So he said, you know, I've just dropped it. them to come back to our meeting or their meeting the other day and then they started talking about it. Uh you you can't make this up. You don't know are they interested in share service? Are they not interested in share service? You know, where are we at? Because we can save our taxpayers a lot of
061money in in some of these places. Now, I will not give up on our attorney. I'm just being honest. Uh you know, our attorney is second to none and is in private industry as well as public industry. And we need somebody somebody that can absolutely uh pull us out of ditches and can and can uh get us on the the road, you know, uh that we need to be on when uh situations arise. And we've got special ed services that we need. And there's just a lot of uh services that our attorney provides that is non-negotiable for me and I'm only one vote. Transportation, there's probably some opportunities there to share some services that we could cut down on expenses. There's HR maybe a little bit. We don't want to give up on our Jim
062Bradshaw and and that group. I don't mean it like that, but I mean there are some things we could probably do fruitionwise that save us some money and there's some other things that we can do. So any anytime they want to have that, they can't have joint meetings for whatever reason, but if they could ever have a joint meeting, maybe we could discuss some of those services, talk about some of that. Um yesterday there was a meeting with uh chair and it's going to be the chairs from the school board and the uh and the board of supervisors. And the only thing I'll say about that and I appreciate I knew that well in advance it's not anything there but um you know one of the board members on the other side has to trust
063that one of those other four board members can can speak to revenue sharing or to these issues. He needs he needs to give them uh guidance and maybe give them some homework or whatever so that they can speak and he doesn't have to be spokesperson for everything they do. Uh let let them speak, let them have a voice as well. And uh you know, let's uh let's have dialogue in in both boards getting together. No, you may not like what somebody has to say that knows what's going on, but nonetheless, that's what makes our democracy wonderful is that we all have an opportunity to speak and that we also have an opportunity to discuss these issues which are important to us. Quit hiding behind the chair, vice chair meetings. Let's meet. You may not hear
064something you want to hear, Phil. I'm talking directly to you right here, but I'm just saying let's have joint meetings. Let the let the press come. Let the public come. Who cares? It's transparency and they they should have uh an opportunity to witness us sitting down across from each other having discussions. That's the bottom line on that. Uh the actual versus estimated revenue, we're not going to make any ground on that. That's a couple million dollars a year that we don't get of actual revenue. Uh I do believe that's something that should come to the schools. Maybe it's another percent that we could give in raises. I get that, you know, and and let me say this after tonight, not going to talk about it anymore. Everybody can can be nice and and say all
065the nice things and and do all that and I'm going to let it go and and this is going to be it for me. Uh but you know uh it's a couple million dollars that we don't get uh you know from the actual versus estimated revenue each year. And couple that with the real estate tax. Maybe we're lowering the rate, but we're raising the tax revenue every year on the on the on that side, the county side. We do need to continue to fund the schools. I fight for that every day and talk about it every day. But, uh, you know, continuing to, you know, we're no no different than the tax and spend politicians we we fuss about. That's what we're doing is we're we're increasing the size of government, increasing the size of
066revenue and spending it. Uh, and that's a hypocrisy on our on our side. Uh, and and let me say this last couple, I'm really into it and I'm sorry, but um not going to say any more after tonight. I I promise you I'll let y'all do whatever whatever we're going to do. I'm going to let it go. But you know, spending we had to fight tooth and nail to get two two elementary schools, right? We had to really fight to get those two elementary schools done. The end of the day, they gave us the funding. Now, we're going to put an extra $10 million in a library that few people use. You know, I'm not saying we need libraries, but do we need five of them in the county? We've got of them in the
067high schools. There's another shared service possibly. You can't do it during school hours. But anyway, you know, if we're going to talk about money that's not spent in the best public interest, I feel like that's that's one of them. And our SRO's when when you put on that sheet of $5 million or whatever, we can rebut that $5 million that you spend on the schools. But when you talk about our SRO's, again, non-negotiable. Now, We had to start it. We had to pay for it. You you made that clear. And then Governor Yncan gave a grant for the SRO's and all of a sudden it was great to put these SRO's in schools. They are non-negotiable. They are amazing people and what they're providing for our schools and the safety for our children. It to
068me is a non-negotiable for us. Again, only one vote, but a non-negotiable for me. So, with that, uh I'd love a much better relationship. I hope we do in the future. I hope we get an opportunity to speak if we would act like adults and come together and have joint meetings every once every couple years. Uh you know, I think the last one we had was Christmas two or three years ago. Um but if we would have joint meetings and have the opportunity to speak to each other instead of hiding, uh you know, we would be able to have these discussions in person. And I'll say this in person to you. I I don't have any problems with doing that. So, but anyway, I I'm happy to to have those discussions. Sorry for the rant,
069but the truth is the truth and you know, I'm, you know, I'm that person that that tries to to stand up and and and say what I what I feel and that's what I feel. So, thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Hudson. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, welcome, Dr. White. It's uh nice to see you here and your first meeting and I look forward to working with you. Uh you mentioned something politics and that is the ugly side of the job. It's ugly when you run for a campaign and you'll find out it's ugly when you're sitting up here and having to deal with it on the other end. Um I hate that word. I've come to really hate it. But um unfortunately that is what it is. Um you know and
070getting on that Mr. Greenway touched on some things and u you know it's been mentioned about the revenue sharing and there was a formula that was created in 2014 um that was basically designed to adequately fund our schools without us having to go beg for money each year. Um, you know, [clears throat] it's easy to see that some of our neighbors, just in the news here recently, um, have had some real money issues. And, you know, we do get to keep the money that we have at the end of the year in surplus and use that towards goals that we have, uh, to complete certain projects. And I would hate to see that go. I think that that would put a real hurting on our ability to, um, not only educate our kids, but do
071some of the things like softball fields and some of the other projects. Um you know few years ago we did bicker back and forth and fight in regards to the two elementary schools but ultimately u we all agreed that we could do it and they agreed to $130 million of the projects and not everybody understands how everything works in the public but um obviously it's bond service it's debt service that um that we have to pay. We we pay some money on that as well as them. So um I think that their goal is the same as ours. Sometimes when you have the same goal, you don't agree to the same path to to reach that goal. However, I do feel like after doing some research that they do fund us well compared to other
072counties from what I've had many conversations with different folks and um I appreciate their efforts. I appreciate what they do. Um no, we're not always going to agree on things. Um but the meeting yesterday that Mr. Grimway spoke about to me was a very positive meeting and as a matter of fact probably the most positive meeting we had in a couple years and it's my desire and I think others on this board to have a good working relationship because at the end of the day the reason why I got into this and I'm sure everybody else sitting up here got into this is simply to serve the kids and to do what's best for our children. And if we're going to be fighting back and forth non-stop I don't think anything positive is going to
073come from that. And who ultimately suffers when we do this is the children and our community. It's hard to work problems out when people aren't willing to talk or people are at odds with each other. So, um, from me, I just want to thank them publicly and say we appreciate everything you've done for us over the last few years. It does not go unnoticed that we have these brand new buildings that are or one brand new building that's pretty awesome, by the way, out on Peters Creek. If you haven't seen it, ride out, take a look at it. Um, I believe that's $80 million right at it. And then the rest of that money of the 130 is going to the remodeling of both the elementary school and Mr. Greenway's district as well as mine.
074Um, and these are direct impacts for the kids and I think that that I'm glad we were able to get that accomplished. That's going to that's going to benefit students um, you know, for decades to come. Um, we're not always going to get along, but my desire is for us to at least be cordial with one another, respect one another. They do have a lot of things they have to look at like public safety um, and and tax rates and all. And that is not in my wheelhouse. So, I will never comment on all those things. That's above my head. And I I just do not have an interest in doing any research on that. Maybe as a citizen when I get my tax bill, but you know, um you know, the more money they
075tax, I mean, obviously the more money we have to pay, but then again, when it goes through that formula, the more money we get here in the schools. But um I hope that yesterday's meeting is an olive branch uh from both sides in order to kind of nyx this uh fighting back and forth and to respect one another and be able to work together to foster a positive relationship that's going to benefit our kids in our community. So with that being said, I publicly thank them for everything that they've done so far. And I hope that um you know what Mr. Mahoney speaking about the services and also I know possibly taking that money at the end of the year that would put a real bad uh put us in a bad situation. So I
076hope that he would reconsider his um thoughts on that. But I think we can work together and and alleviate that. Um we do all share services and I think that that's a good thing. It's how it should be. We should we they should serve us, we should serve them. Anything that the county needs, I know from my perspective if they need to use our buildings or whatever it is, then you know historically I believe we've always done that. Um, I don't think that it should be a tit for tat that we write down how much this costs and that costs. I think that if we dig down in the weeds on that, we're again at odds with each other. So, um, I would rather it just be a good positive working relationship. Um, so I
077want to congratulate our football team. I don't know if I said this the last go round. It's been so long. It's been a couple month like Mr. Greenley said, it's been about six weeks, but you know, they made it all the way to the state championship game and and unfortunately they lost. Um, you know, and on the surface I I thought, well, you know, somebody's got to lose, but you know, they did really well. But then at the end of the game, I went out there and shook every player's hand and they were in tears. And to see these big 200 plus pound linebackers and linemen, all these boys, I mean, and I actually heard uh gentleman, his last name is Hartman. Uh, he played his butt off and and he said he won basically
078every award that he could possibly win for his position, but he would give them all up for a state title ring. So, it goes to show you that coach Clifford is doing a great job out there. He's not promoting uh it's all about you. It's about the team because that man literally said that he would give up everything that he had accomplished himself for the team to to have win that day. So, that meant a lot to me. And I think that um you know, sports on the surface, people think, well, what does that have to do with education? Well, it has a lot to do with it, right? To see that dedication and the things that we're teaching in life skills is invaluable. Um, so some of the fields like the softball field and
079these other things that we spend money on, sometimes I think folks do question why are you spending so much money on that? Well, it's a big part of education. So, um, I want to congratulate uh, Mr. Felli. He's a very talented student obviously to see the accolades and Miss Norman speak about that. Um, it is a shame that we didn't get to hear him perform. That would have been pretty cool. We maybe we should set that up next time something like that happens. And Glimmer Elementary School is awesome. Every time I walk in the building, everybody's happy. The the presentation that she showed, that's reality. Like I don't give them notice that I'm coming. I just show up. I know everybody. So, it's just easy for me just to show up say, "Hey, how's it
080going?" And the kids are just falling in the floor like she mentioned. She has like a joke of the day and all the kids are asking what the joke of the day is. And she's very interactive with the kids. The staff obviously show up without her knowing. I mean, that just says something. And like Mr. Lynon said, uh there is a reason why they call it Highlander Heaven. It's a very special place. Um I'm kind of jealous because I went to Salem. Nothing against Salem, but I really feel like I missed out by not being a Glenver kid. Um, but that's all I have. >> Thank you. Um, I don't want to belabor this point. I think you've you've made a lot of the points. Um, we did have the opportunity to meet yesterday. Um,
081we met with Lauri Gearhart, who's the CFO. She took time to go over um, this information. There have been a lot of questions about the revenue sharing. Um, the formula they used to calculate it. As you mentioned, um, it's it's been in place since 2014, so it's a pretty significant amount of time. Um we we definitely benefit from having that agreement in place. It provides us some stability. Um it gives us um the opportunity to plan ahead and kind of have an idea of what's coming. Um so we we definitely appreciate that. We definitely want to keep that in place. Um we I do feel like um as Mr. Hudson mentioned, the the meeting went really well. Um, I feel like they took many opportunities to tell us what a wonderful job they think that
082we do. Um, and that our school system does. Um, it doesn't go unnoticed. Um, you know, what a what a great school system we have and they know that that's an asset to our county. So, um, I do hope that we can move in that direction. I think, um, yesterday was moving in that direction. I hope we can continue to do that. Um, I think we we all benefit if we can come together. We have a lot of things that we're working on right now that are shared goals between the two boards. Um, and we can really benefit from their assistance on those things. Um, um, to Mr. Greenway's point, I do think joint meetings are appropriate appropriate and needed. Um, and so hopefully we can get to that point where we can have some
083of those meetings. I think it would be necessary. So that's all I'm going to say on that. We do appreciate that. >> Madam Chair, real quick, one thing I do want to make sure that we understand I do agree with the the revenue stream that Joe McName and Drew Barono wrote up well actually I think it wasn't it 2004 does it go back to >> it says 14 on the memorandum >> it's phenomenal um and so yeah we don't want to >> right >> we don't want to change that absolutely it's unique to the state of Virginia couple of counties have it it's >> yeah and we're fortunate that we have that in place so yeah we definitely want to keep that in place um so yeah I hope we can work in that direction
084I think we can I think it's possible to do that and we do appreciate their effort yesterday and hopefully will continue in that um in that path. Um talk about a just some things that are going on. Um yesterday I had the opportunity to visit the governor school and this is um their inter session. So this is the time where they spend all of their time working on their projects. That's all they're doing. Um and it's pretty amazing. I had two Caves Governor School students come meet me at the door and they were my tour guide for the day. And we went around and we went to all the different classrooms and saw the different projects and these kids are incredible. their projects are beyond anything that I can understand. Um, and they're really doing
085things that are real world applications. There was one student that was working on um colon cancer cells. There was um another student that was um looking at sensory movements and bionic arms. Um and then there was the allimportant cell phone charging use of the the shoe. There was a mechanism they had made to go to the shoe and when you walk it charges your phone. So um all the important things. [laughter] I mean, you know, but anyways, it was it was it's really awesome. Their projects are pretty amazing. So, I I love going over there during the inter session when they're actually working on them and they're in there looking at their data. They're so happy to to share with you what they're doing. So, it's it's really um an awesome experience. Um let's see.
086Tomorrow we have the CTE general advisory committee. Um Mr. Greenway and I both serve on that committee, so we always look forward to hearing what updates there are on um career and technology. So, look forward to that. Um, we do hope that everyone has had a great start to the second semester. Um, and we hope that you enjoy the snow or deal with it, however you want to look at it. [laughter] Um, and lastly, I do want to um, also welcome uh, Dr. White. It's been um, fun getting to know you. We've had some opportunities to meet and talk about some things. He's had the opportunity to jump right in, which is usually what happens when you come on. We just throw you in there. And he's been a good sport about that. So, I
087look forward to working with you. Um and we are I'm glad to have you. So thank you. And if there is nothing else meeting