Board of Education Meeting 6/1/2026

001And so what you made us in the black jeans. I want to be used to the United States of America. The state of the Republic for which it stands one nation under God and invisible with liberty and justice for all. I'm rushing to prove the agenda. So move. I can make a motion to amend the motion. Yes. I move to amend the motion to approve the agenda by moving personnel items to the very top of the agenda at the beginning. At the action item? At the action item. Okay. And then I also further move to amend it by having the superintendents announcements. and board announcements following the citizens forum. Can you hear that motion? Can I have a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. First. Motion carries. First on the agenda is citizens forum. Millie

002Schofield. I'd like to say a couple brown rules. You'll have three minutes to speak your part. And also do not reference any other students by name or faculty member so forth. So good evening. My name is Elise. This fall I will be doing the eighth grade experience. Me and my classmates at Springwood Middle School have taken notice of the new development of the class for next year, Integrated Language Arts, and would like to share our thoughts on the subject. To start off strongly, we have agreed and opposed the idea of remotely reading classes from our school system. It affects many things in our day-to-day lives and we would like to explain how. First off, most of the kids of our generation don't have the love of reading already. Taking away the one class that encourages

003them to read great literature, some pieces of the movie even change history, is setting up our generation and generations to come for failure. According to the article, The Importance of Reading for School Success, it states that reading doesn't just prepare students for tests and assignments. It also shapes how they think and interact with the world. When children read, they're not just decoding words. They're building cognitive skills that help them analyze, problem solve, and imagine new possibilities. It also states that reading is so much more than classroom activity. It is the key to unlocking a world of possibilities for students. Coming from a frequent and passionate reader and writer, the reading class is one of my favorite classes to have each day, and I would hate to see it disappear. The thrill and excitement of reading

004is something that most kids don't experience in the first place. All they need is the right book to get the pop. No one in our generation will care to look up the great poems of Edgar Allan Poe or read the masterpieces of Susie M. Collins in their free time if they aren't spurred to do so. Knowing many of the kids at my school and my grade, they definitely would not. Secondly, reading affects success in every subject. Without reading classes, grades in every other class, including math, are going to start to drop. It helps with communication skills in all forms. proves grammar, and develops critical thinking. For example, when reading a mystery book, you learn how to identify clues or easy answers in the text. Personally, my vocabulary and speech has improved since I started reading

005books around three years ago. The book that started it all for me, Wondered by R.J. Palacio, I first read in a reading class. One of my favorite quotes from the book says, now that I look back, I don't know why I was so stressed about it all this time. Funny how sometimes you worry a lot about something that turns out to be nothing. It has impacted me in more ways than one. Reading doesn't just help kids learn. Some books improve not only mental health but physical health as well. In order to have the mental capacity to excel in math, you need a good vocabulary and have to be able to have good focus in order to succeed. How can you perform anything worthy of an A-plus without reading classes? For interacting, you may say that

006you will not be removing reading classes, just simply adding them to language arts, all of which is understandable, but I would respond by saying that while you won't fully be removing reading classes, you're combining two classes that both take a full school year to learn everything consisting in them, putting unnecessary pressure on the teachers teaching the class. The stress that the teachers will have will rub off on the students in the classroom. You may not call it... cause a huge decline in grace but it definitely will have an effect. Parent Joanne Vestal Adult commented on her petition saying, reading, spelling, and writing are important key items for every child to be successful. I have children in various grades. Each one struggles in these areas because of the dependency of iPads. Let the teachers be teachers.

007They specialize in areas of expertise for a reason. How do you expect children to lead successful lives if they can't communicate properly with others? Reading plays a special part in other areas of education. It helps. teach comprehension, as well as proper grammar and punctuation. At the time I'm sharing this, we have officially surpassed 900 signatures on our petition to keep standalone reading classes in Berkeley County Schools, along with many supportive voices and 574 shares. I hope that you can take what we've expressed to mind and make the change that's best for the students of today and the adults of the future. I'm Amelia Smith. Dr. Schooley, is somebody timing? Okay. Why are we taking away reading classes and adding an iPad-based class? I'd like you to think about your decision about adding on an iExcel

008class, also known as MTTS. This could lead to a lot of pressure for students, let alone teachers, too much screen time, and students could lose valuable relationships with the teachers who are, quote-unquote, teaching this MTTS class. Now that you've had some time to think, I'll say what I believe is right. I believe that reading classes should not be replaced by the MTTS classes. And I have all the evidence to prove that I have a better plan. The pressure on students and teachers is already bad right now. So how bad will it get if we struggle to get higher GPA because there will be less poor classes? Or that a teacher will have to teach both reading and writing, a class known as integrated language arts? In the study, when school stress becomes too much, it

009says students today and teens are facing more academic pressure than ever. Between demanding coursework, competitive school environments, constant comparisons, and the push for a higher achievement. Many kids are struggling with stress long before adulthood. What begins as a desire to do well in school can turn into anxiety, exhaustion, and emotional overwhelm. Doing well is very important for students, and as a student myself, I despise how much pressure can be put on me for tests alone. It also says that some effects of pressure are anxiety and worry, perfectionism, exhaustion, burnout, loss of confidence, and increased irritability or withdrawal. None of these are fun or exciting effects, let alone ones that anyone would want to have. It is not fair that these innocent souls may have to go through such pressure. Children are staying up past their

010bedtime to finish the movie or have a habit of one more episode. Sadly, the adolescent of this generation also stay up late due to scrolling. This screen time at night and the screen time in the MTTs classroom is not healthy and the screen time levels will skyrocket with this added device time. In the passage, Screen Time in Children, it states that on average children aged 8 through 18 in the United States spend seven and a half hours a day watching or using screens. While this is a lot of time, I have a feeling that over half of that time is because of the iPad usage in schools. It also states that side effects of too much screen time include sleep problems, lower grades in school, reading fewer books, weight problems, mood problems, and less learning

011time. Other... less learning other ways to relax and have fun. And sadly, that's not all the effects it states. Now knowing this information, how do you feel about having too much screen time and adding on to the amount? Student-teacher relationships are very important, especially if you start having them at a young age. By adding MTTS, you are diminishing the idea of a relationship because the teacher isn't even teaching and iPad is. The article, The Effect of Student-Teacher Relationships. It explains that teachers play an important role in the trajectory of students throughout the formal schooling experience. Positive teacher-student relationships allow students to feel safe and secure in their learning environments and provide scaffolding for important social and academic skills. Teachers who support students in the learning environment can positively impact their social and academic outcomes, which

012is important for the long-term trajectory of school and eventually employment. This shows that without a positive bond with the teacher, the student may not feel safe in that classroom, which can lead to anxiety about the class and again, pressure. Teachers can also help students learn, not just education-wise, but socially too, which will come in handy for a student's future. While you may be thinking that we will learn more from IXL or that students think that iPads are fun and will work more if it is with technology, the truth is actually the opposite. On the website, trustee... Trust doctor reviews. There's a passage called, Is the iPad Really Transforming Education? by John Porter. In this, he says, Back in the classroom, I find myself wondering how any of these kids ever get any work done when

013they get to do it on such a fun piece of technology. Do you prefer working on the iPad or the exercise book? I ask one of the children, a seven-year-old who immediately cranes his neck to shamelessly peek at the notes I'm making. Sometimes I like the iPad, he responds, but sometimes the iPad is boring. refers to the iPad as a fun piece of technology and he isn't wrong. An iPad comes with many distractions which can lead students to not wanting to do the Iso. and or sneak onto a game when the teacher isn't looking. In the excerpt, he is also asking if the student enjoys the iPad, and the student replies with, I like the iPad, but it can be boring. And if we are doing the same learning program every way, every day, around

014150 days in the school year, for 48 minutes each day, it is guaranteed that students are going to start misbehaving and ditching this learning device. That really isn't even teaching them because they find it boring. In conclusion, this reading class should be kept in BCS grades 6 and up. It should stay in because a combined class of reading and writing can cause pressure. Adding a 45-minute iPad-based class adds on lots of screen time and that with an iPad class, it is less likely for students and teachers to have a connection that can help the students progress in and out of school. I hope you can make the right decision for my fellow students, the community, and the teachers. Next on the agenda is Dennis Sanders. And I'm going to let you all go over your

015time because we did the first one, but please try to stay within that three minutes. Dennis Sanders. One more time, Dennis Sanders. Next on the list is Amy Shank. I'm here tonight because of my students. So before I start, I would like to say to them, to my students who are joining me tonight, I want to say in the words of John Lewis, never ever be afraid to make noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. And I'm proud. I love being a teacher, and even after 16 years, I can still find my joy. However, I'm saddened and disgusted by the recent change in Berkeley County Schools. For whom are these changes meant to help? Teachers? Students? You? Bought her for a new book? You say you communicate with stakeholders, but teachers and students remain

016unheard. Flashback to the end of the 24-25 school year. Test scores were treading upward, kids buying into year two of IXL, and in true BCS form, new program. Why? Then the 25-26 school year started with an unprecedented instructional rollout, removing all teaching resources except for the approved textbook and all previous curriculum apps. This happened the week teachers returned to school. A textbook is not the curriculum. Our next-gen standards is the curriculum. Be grateful there are creative and inspirational teachers in the county interpreting those standards beyond crafted objectives in order to make them accessible to students. A decision was made to remove co-taught science and social studies, then rescinded due to a misunderstanding. I-Ready was overused against the program's recommended minutes per week. This spring, with the overloaded 45 minutes of I-Ready, where we were required

017to do two I-Ready diagnostics, county directed power-up formative assessments for math and reading, writing assessment, Writing summative assessment moved up by a month. Math and reading summative assessments and eighth grade got an additional science summative assessment. It didn't allow time for much actual teaching. Then a decision was made to cut reading classes for a new integrated ELA class. Reading minutes will be lost. Middle school is not high school. Stop making it that way. The reason students are successful in later English classes is due in part to focused, concentrated, separate reading and writing classes in middle school. In March, Berkeley County Schools said they intended to level the playing field between middle schools because several of them have continued to require a reading course for all students in addition to English language arts, while others have

018not. Why this decrease? Why decrease core academic instructional time to fix the problem? They also stated they reviewed middle school scheduling and state guidance. The guidance doesn't say reading class is allowed, is not allowed, as we could have separate ELA reading class that share a gradebook. Expecting middle school students to receive instruction in all reading, writing, speaking, and listening strands is a lot for one class to achieve with any expectation of proficiency. I'm going to finish. Berkeley County Schools Plan. Focus on pacing and common formative assessment. Equal more testing, less teaching, less creativity, more robotic teachers. Students' individual needs will not be met and classroom relationships will suffer. And then finally, MTSS, enrichment and intervention. an ungraded class for which one teacher will engage 25 plus middle school students in whole group, small group, independent

019work, enrichment, intervention for both math and ELA instruction. This class will mainly utilize IXL, so is our focus solely data driven? Are we just teaching for numbers? Should we not want to focus on learners who are literate citizens, willing, able, and ready to write their futures? What is the plan? I am already seeing in tonight's presentation that, quote, schools will also maintain flexibility to provide additional teacher-led literacy enrichment and support opportunities based on student need and scheduling structures. Are you already backtracking reading classes, setting up for another misunderstanding? Decisions made by Berkeley County schools are knee-jerk, lack long-range focus, do not utilize or appreciate veteran teachers. are testing and screen time focused and rely on canned programs platforms pacing guides instead of creativity and curiosity proficient veteran staff are leaving this county and not just

020because of the money they are not unhappy with their schools they are unhappy with the current leadership and decision-making imperfect next on the agenda um we have moved their superintendent thank you All right. Thank you, Madam President and board members. So school is out for summer and we are wishing our students and families a very relaxing, vibrant and safe summer. So congratulations to everyone. We can't wait to see you next August. WVU Medicine continues to be. outstanding partner by providing free sport physicals for our student athletes through its annual sport physicals and health fest event. This event ensures that middle school and high school students can complete the required WVSAC athletic physical at no cost to families, helping remove the financial and access barriers to participation in school athletics. Physicals will be offered June 2nd

021through June 4th at the WVU Health Sciences Center. which designated evenings for each high school and a dedicated middle school as well as a make-up day. In addition to receiving a sports physical, families will also be able to enjoy the health fest atmosphere, including food trucks and community engagement opportunities. We want to encourage all student-athletes planning to participate in athletics during the upcoming school year to take advantage of this opportunity and complete their physicals early. Again, we are grateful to WU Medicine for their continued investment in health, wellness, and success of Berkeley County students and our families. Families are reminded that the required WVSAC physical form must be completed and signed before registration, and middle school students must be accompanied by a parent or caregiver to receive a physical. Berkeley County Schools also is pleased

022to continue offering the federally funded Summer Food Service Program, providing free breakfast and lunch to children ages 2 through 18 throughout the summer. This program helps ensure that students continue to have access to healthy, nutritious meals, even when our schools are not in session. For many families, school meals are an important source of daily nutrition, and this program helps bridge that gap over the summer months. Meal service will be available at five locations across Berkeley County, making it easier for families throughout the county to participate. Service begins June 10th at Martinsburg North Middle School and continues through July 30th, with additional locations opening throughout the summer. Breakfast and lunch are available at no cost to all children ages 2 through 18. There are no income requirements, applications, or registration processes required to participate. This program

023aligns with our commitment to supporting the whole child by helping ensure students have the nutrition they need to learn, play, grow, and remain active during the summer. The theme for this program remains especially important. Hunger doesn't take a summer vacation. Through this initiative, Berkeley County Schools is helping address food insecurity while supporting the health and the well-being of our children all across the community. We encourage families to take advantage of this valuable resource and contact the Office of Child Nutrition with any questions regarding locations, schedules, or participation. This is just one more example of Berkeley County Schools' commitment, I think, to serving our students beyond the classroom. By providing free nutritious meals throughout the summer, we can help ensure that every child has access to the nourishment they need to stay healthy, active, and ready

024to learn when the schools return in the fall. We have Ms. Asetny here with us this afternoon, who is our Child Nutrition Director. So thank you for being here, Ms. Asetny. Fairgrounds, one of those locations that will open up at some point. I know you were working on that. Did you get that finalized? Not yet? Okay. We're still working on that and we hope to be able to have that as well. The school calendar feedback regarding our community days is now available. um There you go. So Berksville County Schools is committed to developing a school calendar that works as effectively as possible for our students, our families, and our employees. As part of that effort, the district is seeking feedback regarding the use of the abbreviated school days, including two-hour delays and two-hour early dismissals

025that are scheduled throughout the school year. This survey can be found and linked in our most recent BCS Insider Edition, which I believe just came out on Friday. Is that correct? Currently, these days provide dedicated time for faculty-centered activities as well as teacher planning and preparation. Of course, these are important components of supporting instructional quality as well as professional responsibilities of our staff. At the same time, we also recognize that these school days can affect families, transportation schedules, child care arrangements, extracurricular activities, as well as instructional time in many different ways. The district is asking our stakeholders to share their experience and preference regarding the use of two-hour delays versus two-hour early dismissals so that future calendar decisions can be informed by meaningful community input. The feedback collected through this survey will help district leaders

026evaluate the advantages and challenges associated with each option and determine how to create greater consistency and predictability for our families as well as our school staff. The survey is open through June 5th, and we encourage all families and employees to participate. The more feedback we receive, the better position we are to make a thoughtful, balanced decision that supports both student learning as well as our operational needs. As of now, we've had about 400 responses to the survey. 47 or 12% are for two-hour delays, while 355 or 88% are for two-hour early dismissals. One of the things I do want to share with the board is that in our principals meeting this morning, we did discuss with our administrators some of the logistical challenges of one over the other. And while we see a trend of

027folks saying, hey, we really like and prefer the early dismissal, It does present some logistical challenges for busing of our students, especially in some of our elementary schools. A lot of times students have to come back because for whatever reason parents weren't there to pick them up. And so it does eat into the two hours that are required in code for those faculty senate times. Now, with that being said, one of the things that we, as we work through that with our principals, is that because the school, state school calendar bill passed where it factors in hours, not just days anymore, one of the things that we think might be a solution is to make it a two and a half hour early release. or a three hour early release. So that's something else that

028we are exploring as we get that feedback from the public. But I wanted to make sure that that is clear that we're trying to work through some of the logistics while also meet the needs of what our families and staff are saying. You know, because our goal is to create a calendar that balances instructional priorities with the practical needs of our students, families and staff. Our upcoming board meetings, we have our next regular board meeting June 15th at 6 p.m. We also have our final spring recognition event for students and staff. That'll be June 24th, 6 p.m. at Spring Mills High School. Madam President, board members, that concludes my update. Next, I have gender board announcements. Board member. I wanted to share some concerns that I had, not just as a community member. But as

029a board member, and forgive me, as some of this has gotten personal, I know that our desire, not just of myself, but of every person on this board, is for our kids and for our staff. I know it might not seem like that. And I know that sometimes it's hard to understand it and see it. I know sometimes it might feel like we're dismissing you. I hear you. I'm not dismissing you. There are going to be things coming up this evening on our agenda and on future agendas that we have not been able to disclose. There's information that we have not been able to disclose, and there are things that we're probably not going to be able to get full information on because it's been discussed in executive session, not just for a day or

030two, but for years. Things that have taken time. To see accusations the way that I've seen on social media. I know, social media, I go, I see it. And I sit there and not everything is true on social media. But to see how many of our staff have bought into it is discouraging. To see snippets, small snippets of conversations posted. Pieces, posted, cherry-picked, is discouraging and classless. I could post all day long conversations that I've had, but I won't do it. When I say that you as a staff, parent, and student, your conversations are safe with me, that's what I mean. They're safe with me. I will not post your conversations with me. I will not disclose what you say to me. But what I will say is this. We're better than that. Berkeley County

031Schools is better than what I've seen. We have the future sitting in this room today. They did better than what I've seen on social media from some of our staff. So I'm asking for all of our staff, not just those who have been very classy. Please stay classy. But I'm asking those who have maybe not done so well, please come back because we're not the enemy. There's a lot of people that want us to fight each other. There's a lot of people out there that want us to fight each other. You know, in the Hunger Games, there's a good quote in there that says, you know, remember who the real enemy is. It's not us. We're going to be making decisions tonight. Some of them are not going to be popular. Some of them are

032definitely not going to be popular with Charleston. But I'm willing to stand in the gap for you guys. No matter how many times anybody stabs me in the back here. Because I love you guys. And to hear Mrs. Riggleman at Mossman High School, I love what she says to all of her kids, to all of her staff. I love you. I care about you. That's how I'm going to end it tonight on this board announcement. I love you and I care about you. And that's why I'm here sitting here tonight. And I know probably this is going to end up somewhere on that page and that's fine, but I don't do this. I don't get kickbacks. I get $8,000 a year in that. Majority of my time is free. I do it because I care.

033Because I want to. That's all I have to say. Sure thing. Ms. Power, I don't appreciate having to follow you. I wanted to take a few minutes to say what motivates me sitting here on the board. But also when I stood in the classroom and taught students. I have a wonderful teacher at South Junior and I named Miss Emily Miller, and then she got married to Warbers. We used to tease her about her boyfriend, Paul. We were so, I had her for three years, four of them. But she taught us science hands-on. And she taught us at one time, Ohm's Law equals IR. And she gave us batteries, light bulbs, switches, the whole gamut. And we were able to do them. I learned Holmes Law. So then when I joined the Marine Corps and took

034the test, Holmes Law was on there. I qualified for a school. Jackie, I brought a little snapshot. I've had this for years. I was up here, the last row in the same. This was the toughest school I ever attended. College, graduate classes, public school. This was the toughest school. There were over 900 students in this school. 15-week school. Took me 18 weeks to get through it, because if you didn't pass, they held you back, and if you flunked enough, then I was close. They made you, instead of a radio repairman, they made you a radio operator. And you were the second lieutenant in Vietnam in 66. You were the first one shot in combat. But I learned something this thing. There were 900 plus students in that school. I only ran into one other guy

035from West Virginia. One other guy. You know what West Virginia is famous for? Her capital in war. we have the highest mortality rate. Now that reflects back on your educational system. And I was always in the bottom, hanging on by my fingertips in this class. I had guys from New England, a lot of guys from New England. I experienced firsthand our national education system. I saw where the kids were coming from who had good backgrounds in education. So when I got into this application as the legislator, and I served on the education committee, and as a school board member, I always remembered that class that I struggled in, remembering where West Virginia ranked in education. Now, I'm not criticizing people who joined the military. And by and large, I'm not portraying the people who have

036died as anything less than what good Americans and good West Virginians are. I know people on that wall that are in abortion. I know where some of them are buried here in Berkeley County. I know one who died a week before he turned 20 and never saw his son. because he was born after he went overseas. But I want West Virginia children to not be 49th or 50th in this nation. And when this school, and Ms. Power has said it, and I heard Mr. Wright say it, and I know Mr. Martin Vosad, and I know Ms. Rome advocates, when I watch Berkeley County schools going down, and here are the reading scores. going down. We said we have to do something. We have to turn this county around. Kicking and screaming, fighting, making mistakes. I

037love history. One of the lessons Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, try it. If it doesn't work, try something different. Don't hang on to it. So we may have made some mistakes and the changes, but the direction that this county was going That's the reason why we've brought in this man to change things around. I know test scores, we're going to talk about them here for quite a while, a little bit, and they're going to be improving. But you've got to have something. You have to have a measuring stick to see how far you cut the board. You have to have a measuring stick to make sure your students can compete outside of West Virginia. I'm not competing on this board with Los Alamos or Hedgesville. They have good scores. I'm proud to see the improvement that

038South Middle made. But we are not an island like Hawaii. We are a county that feeds people out into this country, and they have to be able to hold their own. And I want to make sure that we first start heading towards the top and beat Putnam County. or Mongolia County. I want to see us start looking at the neighboring states and beat them too, academically. And it's going to have to happen. Our teachers have got to hold students accountable. We cannot continue this social promotion. 50% of our students in one, on one test are two or more years behind. And they're going to be fed to one of our middle schools. And then we wonder why that middle school has problems. You know, sometimes a lesson that I learned in the Marine Corps, thank

039God I never had the experience, is sometimes you just got to throw yourself on the grenade. Sometimes there's an elective board here. We got to say we need our children to deserve better. And we're going to push and complain and say we want to see better. And we're going to upset a lot of people trying to do that. Two members lost their seats. Two good members. But that's democracy. I respect that. But while I'm running my lap on this board, I want to see our children being pushed and given the opportunity to move on. Ms. Pallor talked about Charleston earlier. We're going to talk about going to court. We've tried the legislative process. It hasn't worked hard. You can't criticize our local legislators for what they've tried to do on locality back, but it hasn't

040worked. We're going to have to use a different approach, and we're going to do it. And the last month that I'm on this board, and I know I'm probably going to hear an echo from my other two colleagues. We're going to do everything we can for the children of Berkeley County to improve them academically so that they can survive in an environment that will help them and help our community. We have to do it. It's the board's responsibility to do it. We're going to keep on to the last day of June. Don't. So I just wanted to take a few minutes. I do not want to see the state come in and take over Berkeley County because the board didn't do its job. That's the ultimate threat to us sitting here. The community doesn't realize

041that. But as we saw these scores going down, that's what we're facing. That's what we have to do to turn around. So if I've upset people by these comments, I don't want to apologize, but I want to shoot straight with you. That's what's motivating me. That experience of being out of the West Virginia environment and being in the United States environment and seeing, and that was back in 66. I hope we can prove it. But I know what it's like when you leave this state and you go out there and you play in the big leagues. That's it. Thank you for your attention. Next on the agenda is a monitoring item. Dr. Woods. Dr. Woods is on. And Elementary Leadership, Lewis Mullenix will provide an overview of the magnetic literacy with teacher feedback. Dr. Woods,

042are you starting with the data review? Yeah, I'm starting with that. Okay, is that okay? Yeah, I'm sorry. I think you want to make sure. Okay. It's the data review. Yeah. All right. Good evening. President Long, Board of Members, Dr. Sachs. Today, I'm here with members of the instruction team to give you all an end-of-the-year data monitoring report. We're going to start it off by going through, reflecting on our end-of-the-year data. That includes our I-Ready diagnostic data, our GSA, our PSAT and SAT scores. We're going to not only look at it from the district level, but then we're actually going to break it down programmatically and we're actually going to show you the performance of our schools. And then from there, our executive directors will also identify some of the successes and some of the

043things, the outcomes that we're looking at as well. One of the things that I do want to note, even though we have the data up here for the district, today during our principal's meeting, we... No, I'm sorry. Today during the principal's meeting, we actually had the opportunity to surprise our amazing principals and actually give out some awards. And we had some different categories. And like I said, I know we have the district data up here, but one of the things that we definitely wanted to talk about is not only the great work that is happening in the district, we really wanted to highlight the great work that has happened in some of our schools, especially with the teachers. So some of the awards, and I'm just going to go through these real quickly because, like

044I said, we gave them out today. As from the primary level, we were able to recognize our schools that showed at least 50% or more of their students meeting middle or above grade level of diarrhea diagnostic. So for like ELA, that was Baton Creek Valley Elementary School, Beddington Elementary, Jaredstown, Hedgesville, Marlow, Opec, and Spring Mills. We did the same thing for that level for the schools with 50% or more students meeting middle or above grade level or they're already diagnostic from the mathematics, which was Bat Creek Valley, Bennington, Jarrettstown, Hedgesville, Marlow, and Springville. Can you just repeat that? Because I think that's really impactful. I just want to make sure that everybody hears it again because I am so proud of those schools. Yeah, exactly. I just want to make sure that everybody resonates exactly

045what those schools were able to accomplish. Yes. Well, I'll start with ELA again. That was Back Creek Valley Elementary School, Beddington, Jarrodstown, Hedgesville, Marlow, Opec, and Springfields Primary. Wow. On the mathematics side, that was Back Creek Valley, Beddington, Jarrodstown, Hedgesville, Marlow, and Springfields. Thank you. Great. Then we had some other categories that the team looked at. So we had one category that we called the Achievement Award. That was looking at the highest overall performance. So at the intermediate level for a distinguished achievement in actually both reading and mathematics, it was Tomahawk Intermediate. For a distinguished academic excellence, which was a top tier performance in both reading and math, it also looked at major growth. That was Mill Creek Intermediate. We also had several academic growth awards, which we wanted to showcase to the schools that

046had the largest year over year in group. And I know I'm doing a brief rundown, but as Holly and Willis go through, you'll see the specific scores. So on the reading side, that was Bill Creek Intermediate. They showed a 7% growth. Also on the growth side for Intermediate for the mathematics as well, it showed a 7% growth for mathematics. We also had an accelerated growth award. And I think I was sure you kind of stole our thunder on that. Marksburg South Middle, they showed a 6% growth this year in mathematics. Another school that we were extremely proud of, Eagle School Intermediate, they got our emerging growth award. Their reading increased this year 7% and their math increased 6%. We had several momentum awards as well. That was the team reviewing the data over the last

047several years. So the data trends to show some of the schools that what we had said is sustaining multi-year improvement. For the literacy growth, that went to Orchard View Intermediate. And the last... four years they went up 11 percent. For the mathematics award that actually went to Muslim in the middle which over the last four years they went you know progressively but from 17 percent to 31 percent. And then from a minimum award overall for what we call academic recovery that actually went to Northrop which I know the team will highlight those scores in a little bit. On the high school side as well, we make sure to break down that PSAT and SAT data. The achievement award for that, for distinguished college readiness achievement, that went to Musselman High School, which we'll highlight those

048scores a little later. For the academic growth award, looking at SAT and PSAT performance, that went to Martinsburg Hospital. And then the Academic Growth Award for Post-Secondary Readiness went to Hedgesville High School. And then last but not least, there was an Emerging Excellence Award, which looked at high PSAT growth that went to Springfields High School. So we did want to take the opportunity, and we definitely had a chance, like I said, all the principals to celebrate them today, but also celebrate the great work of our staff throughout the year. So I'll say all that to say, we're getting back to the date up here. So overall for the district, we saw about a 1.1% growth as it relates to ELA, and this is our GSA scores for 3-8. For math, we had almost a 3%

049increase. But one of the things the team and I did is we also broke it down by the programmatic level as well. So when you pull that data back as it separates from the intermediate and middle schools, at the intermediate level for ELA, they grew about 2.7, so almost roughly 3%. Middle schools were... You know, just a little bit stagnant, the same 0.4% decline. For the math, though, we showed some improvement across the board. Intermediate, they went up 2.7%, while middle schools went up 2.6%. What I'm going to do now is I'm going to turn it over to Louis. He is now going to break down specifically some of the IRAE diagnostic scores that I was referencing earlier, and then also the GSA score. Yeah, this slide, we're looking at the already diagnostic data for

050math. You'll see the data is broken down by grade level, and for eighth grade level, you can see diagnostic one, diagnostic two, and diagnostic three. Diagnostic one was taken at the beginning of the school year during August, September, and diagnostic two was taken, I'm sorry, in September, and diagnostic two was taken in December, and diagnostic three was taken at the end of April, beginning of May. This slide shows, if you look at the growth over time. The color represents the different performance levels. The green section represents students who are on grade level or above. The yellow section represents students who are one grade level behind. And the red section represents students who are two or more grade levels behind. Over time, we want to see the yellow and the red sections decrease. And we want

051to see that green section increase. The red box. Actually, it's not on here. The red box should be where you see the green up there where it says Diagnostic 3. There should be a red box around that. I was going to hope that it was going to be on there today. So when you look at that, that's where we ended up. So those are where the kids are proficient. So when you look at that, we want to keep our main focus on Diagnostic 3 in the green. That's our proficiency levels per grade level. And Louis, this is actually the highest we've actually seen. Yeah. And if I'm looking at diagnostic three for tier three, that's the lowest we've actually seen of two or more grade levels behind in our third diagnostic. Yes. That's the lowest

052we've seen in years. I think consistent use of the tool and people and then implementing all the consistent with what we're doing. I know we had a new reading program, but you're going to find that overall looking at our data, we had our trajectories up. So you'll find that. Yes. on that actually that was math this is reading so again when you look at this slide the same type of data now we're looking at the diagnostic data for reading just like in the math side the green section represents students who are on or above grade level and the yellow section represents students that are one grade level behind getting that red two or more diagnostic three shows our students who finished the year with the diagnostic on if you look at up there at diagnostic

053three right here we have 88 down to 42 percent of those kids proficient depending on what grade level that you're looking at. Well, Lewis, why? Fifth grade seems to have a I always have a lag. You see that sometimes even on the GSA day at the same time. I don't know either. And actually, that's something that we're working at with the teachers to say. And I think that's why we took a deeper look at our standards this year. Something we found, and one of the teachers is here that helped me find that, whenever the teachers were teaching based on and using the curriculum, we found at the very, very end that something was not covered to the level that it needed to be. It was in the curriculum. But instead of the place value going

054to, in the curriculum, went to hundreds, it was supposed to go to thousands. Well, if you're a teacher and you're just teaching out of the curriculum, that particular piece, because no curriculum will match standards completely in a state of West Virginia. They don't write them for a state. They write it to sell to multiple states. So you really have to look at the standard first and then see whether that curriculum aligns. We found several places where. the curriculum didn't align, that we had to do some tweaking to things to make it fit West Virginia. And that was place value was one of them in the third grade. Now we found that it didn't go to the level that it needed to. So if you're a teacher that just teaches out of the book, well, then

055guess what? You didn't teach to the level that you needed to. We found things like that. And I think overall, we found several things in even both the reading and the math where we need to tweak a little bit to get it to where it needed to be to meet our needs. Had we not. been teaching to the standard. this year, had we not been really making that focus, do you think we would have discovered that? No. No, I don't think we would have. I think if somebody was just flipping the page, I mean, I'm going to be honest with you. I did that as a teacher sometimes. I was busy or something. I just looked to the next page and I did, yeah, I have to teach multiplication. But if you really go back

056and read the standard, because they have those verbs that we were all like looking at this school year, we were really taking a focus on, because sometimes it would say like in the text, you had to identify. but you'd read the standard and it would say create or apply. So that is, in the curriculum, you're just identifying them and you're moving on. So if you'd say I taught that skill, you did teach that skill, but to the level that you needed to, did they create their own afterward? You have to say, so now that I've taught this lesson, I've got to do something to add to that to make sure that the students then created their own because that's what the standard's asking us to do. Well, so there's understanding from now. Yes, yeah. So

057again, it's not completely off. It's just something we need to tweak to make it happen. But in the Third Grade Success Act, and I'm looking at the page further ahead, and I know I'm being redundant here, but we're going to be making a mistake if we use the third grade as the... point where you retain students. That's what you're saying here is that third grade students scoring in the does not meet grade performance level. Now this is on the GSA, but you've got to start holding students back in the first and second grade and not wait till the third grade to do it. One thing you're going to have to put half of your third or fourth grade teachers on the transfer list because they're going to become third grade teachers. The other thing is,

058is that you, and I think it shows up in later braids, middle school, if you don't get them on level in those primary braids, it's going to catch up to you when they go to junior high or middle school and high school. You can't, you know, you've got to do it. We had Chuck Hatfield here after Mr. Arwath left. retired. And Mr. Hatfield was batching it up. He was from Putnam County and he was, I had him out to the house for supper. And I asked him, I said, what is Putnam County doing? Now this was before the third grade success here. He said, I put all my resources in the lower grades. I told my secondary people, you will benefit if I get these students up to snuff in the first two or three

059grades, hiring more aides and everything else, like we're doing now in the state. But if you don't, if you sit there and pass students in the first or second grade and you know they need help, they're in the red. then when they hit the third grade, they say, whoop, you hit the wall by the law, we're going to retain. It's doing those children desserts. Hold them back at the lower grade level and let them get their maturation up, repeat their basics, put all your resources into them. But whatever we do, don't use the Third Grade Success Act as the wall. that they have to jump over. We have to do it at lower grades so that it's dispersed. Children understand there's a consequence here. They're perceptive. And you have to get them up to snuff

060in these lower grades. And I'm just emphasizing what I'm reading here. I disagree. I think you need to do it at lower grades. Actually, the letter string, if people are thinking of letter string, which we have a lot of people that are, it says lower grade. First grade is an indicator of whether a kid will be successful in the third grade. So you can determine in the first grade whether a kid is, if you have them proficient in first, they will more than likely be proficient in the third grade. So again, it's what you're saying. And we need to emphasize to the teachers, to the professionals. You have the law on your side. You are the one who makes the call. Now, you have to document it. You have to be fair with the parents

061and the children. And I put that on in June. You have to be monitoring and communicating with these parents. Some parents don't bother with their children's education. I know that. But there are a lot of parents that I think will. And you have to make sure the teachers understand that the school psychologist says don't retain them. The school psychologist is not the elementary classroom teacher. The teacher has that responsibility in code to do it. And you can't also in that same section of code tell the teachers you cannot be forced to change grades. You can't have this grade changing saying, well, we're not going to accept zero because it didn't turn into work. We have to instill in our teachers, they have responsibilities to these children and not to make everybody happy, but to make

062everybody accountable. Well, what I started saying when he was, actually the Third Grade Success Act doesn't actually mean. and let's just hold them all back in third grade even though that's what it says. It also means that if you're not cutting the mustard in first and second, buy the third grade and hold them back. But it doesn't say that you can't hold them back in those other grades, but I think that's the time that we need to do more of that and maybe we're not. Dr. Sachs had something to say. Thank you. On this slide, we're switching gears from already diagnostic to the preliminary GSA data from grades three through five. I want to emphasize that this data is preliminary, so it was pulled on May the 21st of 2026, and it's still going to

063change from what the state... They have to scrub the data, and we call it making it clean. But at this point, the data includes all the students that were tested. Later, students who were not enrolled for 135 days of instruction will be removed from that final accountability data. And because of that, these numbers, they will not be exact today or how they're going to appear later on Zoom West Virginia. In many cases, when it's finalized, a lot of the scores actually increase. who the students were, sometimes it could go down just a little bit. So I want to explain how these percentages up here on the board were calculated. When you look across the grade levels, the numbers are not just simply averages together in order to get the overall school average or percentage on

064this chart. Instead, the percentage are based on the number of students who were tested divided by the number of students who were proficient. And this overall, whenever we're getting the overall for the school up here, we add the third, fourth, and fifth grade students together, and then we divide that by the number of kids that were proficient in all three grade models. So that's why when you're looking at that total over there, on right here, these are not supposed to add up to keep going out. So that's not the way it's supposed to be read. Can you go back? Yeah. Back? Yep. One thing I do want to point out. So when you look at this chart, you're going to see what we've tried to showcase is the school proficiency and whether or not it

065increased or decreased overall in the school year. You can also see is grade level year to year increase or decrease. So let's look at Mill Creek, for example. So third grade, if you go. I need you to be my band if you don't see them. You're doing a great job. Well, before you go on, I think this is very important to point out. So if you look at Milk Reef, scroll down a little bit. Here's Milk Reef. This is actually Milk Reef. I really want to look at Milk Reef for a second. So if you scroll back down a little bit, there can you get a good idea of what's going on. Okay, here's Mill Creek. Okay, thank you. So if you take a look at Mill Creek, you're going to see that from 23-24,

066they were at 42.2% proficient in third grade. Move your finger up there. And then 24-25, they went to 41%. And then 25-26, they went up to 52%. Now, if you go to 24-25 for fourth grade, you'll see that they were at 51% respectively. But then this year, that grade level was at 48. So your first reaction was, well, they went down. Well, you really have to look at last year's third grade, right? So last year's third grade was at 41.17. Those students, that cohort grew to 48% proficiency. So, and if you look at the fourth grade from last year, 51%, they grew to 56%. The point I'm trying to make is that we, what you see here is not just, you know, increased proficiency. What you're seeing is closing of the proficiency gap. And I

067think that's super, super important. And it shows just how hard our teachers... I've been working at our schools across Berkeley County. And seeing increases in proficiency like this is not half by half a chance. It is very intentional. It takes a lot of hard work. It takes intentionality. And it takes monitoring because the monitoring component of what we've been trying to accomplish is so important so that we can be able to triage where additional support is needed. It is never, it is never to pick apart and to tell someone that what they're doing is wrong. It's always so that we can offer additional support. And so our academic specialists that we have, our AIMS, you know, they are there front and center to triage and to help support. embedded in our schools to help support

068where there are challenges or issues. And so I just want to say that using Mill Creek as an example, but the same thing can go if you look at Eagle School Intermediate, third grade, that cohort from last year went from 28% to 36% respectively. Fourth grade, 25% to 31%. So those... are all things that are making a big difference when you're looking at these charts. I just wanted to share that. And I'm going to refer to something in my script here that I put together. Just going back to what Dr. Sachs was saying, take a look at this proficiency and then look, these are the dates up here of what they did in the past. So you look at that proficiency all the way back. What do you notice there? We've never been that high.

069Clear back to 2017, something happened. Something changed. And they are not the only school there. I think if you go down, you'll see, I believe, Orchard View. I know Tomahawk is the same. Highest proficiency those schools have had in nine years. Can we just give a shout out to Eagle School? Yeah. I just want to give a shout out. Eagle School has always struggled. And if you zoom in a little bit there, Leah, real quick. to Eagle School. One of the things I noticed when I was reviewing this over the weekend, this caught my attention. Well, yeah, look at the end result. Oh. Their last year, their numbers for third grade, 28.64, grew to 36.97 in their fourth grade year. That's a significant percentage from one year to the next for our kids. I know

070it might not seem like a lot to some folks, but that is a huge percentage in education world. That's huge. And from 25.5 to 31.79, I mean, that's a lot. It's a lot. If they would have had just a little over one more point, they would have actually met their state target, which would have been exceptional. And these targets over here are determined. This is where the state wants us to be at. They want us to be at 70% proficient by 2036. That's their goal. Their goal is that everybody across the... And they set these targets different for school because what they looked at is where they were at. And then they said, this is where we want you to be at 70% in 2036. And they broke that down into little sections. So some

071schools have to be able to gain by one. Some schools have to maybe gain two points, depending on where they started. So that's how they determine this right here. So truly, whenever you see the green, that means that they're at or above their target. So whenever I give you some information here, that's how you would read this chart. As superintendent, I also have to say, while we are... definitely excited and celebrating the larger, the large gains that we're seeing. We are by no means saying we're where we expect to be. Yeah. You know, because. We're not going to rest until 100% of our students are proficient, right? Right. But we also have to be cognizant that true school turnaround, true school improvement is a multi-year process, multi-year process, three to four years to really start

072seeing the major impacts where you can actually change the learning culture within a school and within a group of students. So there again, definitely going in the right direction and we still have a lot of work to do. So I'm sorry. I just want to go back to what you said something about you don't want to go in and tell somebody that was something wrong. I actually have no problem. I mean, if somebody is doing that, our teachers are teaching something that. It's wrong in terms of it's not helping our students grow as quickly as we should. I don't want us to treat everybody with kid gloves. No, and I absolutely agree with that. I think that sometimes we have to be able to have constructive conversations. One of the things that we also want

073to make sure of is how do those constructive conversations take place? And that's one of the things that we have been very reflective upon as we think about this work. And it's something that we want to be very intentional with because we don't want someone to feel diminished when they're doing their best. We want them to feel supported. But also we want them to have a growth mindset. And I think that's really important as well. It doesn't matter. I can tell you, Superintendent, I know. I am always learning and I'm always growing. Whether it be as an educator or as a leader, there is always room for improvement. And I always want to strive to take a situation or an experience and learn from it. And the same thing goes for whether you're a school

074principal, a classroom teacher, an aide, or a service person. We have to be good at getting to the very best for our students. Thank you for that. Rasheed. It's all good. I think that's to take a lot of what was going to say. I don't want to, first of all, I want to point out Eagle School again. I agree with Mrs. Power over there that she said that they've faced a lot of challenges, but with that 7.5 point gain, they're just trying to end the target. And I want to applaud them for that. Mill Creek Intermediate, again, exceptional year, overall proficiency at 54.2%. That's a major celebration. And if you look back, like I said, look across there, you don't see that. So you've really, truly, truly, when you look back, you think of COVID

075and all those things that have been in our way. They have exceeded all of their annual target, and they're back on track. Mountain Ridge, a little bit just shy of their goal, but it tends to be something that happens at Mountain Ridge. So we work with them. Those teachers work very, very hard. They've just always been just a little shy of their target. But again, it's not because the teachers aren't trying their best. Orchard View. a five-point increase in their ELA scores, and they're now 39.71% proficient, and they're just very, very shy of their annual target. Potomac, again, just rock solid. They're steady out of the school, but finally, I want to point out Tomahawk is extremely strong in ELA this year. Their third grade is a major celebration. If you look at them, they're

07660.6% of their students are proficient reading in ELA on the GSA, and again, they reached a 55.5% five, nine percent proficient as a school. And if you look back across there like I asked you to do, you will not see that Tomahawk has ever been that high. So that is truly a celebration. Looks like the same chart but it's different. This is math. This slide shows the Plum Mary West Virginia General Summative Assessment for 335 in math. As I mentioned before, this data needs to be cleaned and slightly scrubbed. Looking first at Rosemont, they went down just a little bit, but remember, Rosemont is always a high-flying school. It depends on sometimes the group of kids that you have. We are working with the students that we have there right now, but they went down

077just a little bit. But again, they're still above their annual target. That's what I want to point out. So they're still far above where they need to be at this time. Eagle's going to be a celebration in math. We changed our math curriculum two years ago and at the beginning we're seeing the benefits that we're seeing them start to play out here. Eagle made a 0.7 percent gain in math and they met their annual target which is a celebration in itself. Mill Creek Intermediate had exceptional growth in math overall too at the school. They exceeded their annual target of 34.47%. And their math overall proficiency, look at where it's at. That is amazing. So the state is thinking that they're going to be at 34.47% and they're at 15%. They're far exceeding that where they

078should be. Again, I'd love to take a look at that trend data. They're higher than they've ever been. Mountain Ridge Intermediate again, talking about faith. They're always just a little bit behind their target, but they are making growth over time. It's the same thing here with the math scores. If you look at Orchard View, they were another success story in math. They grew by two percentage points, and they met their annual target, which was 30.56% because they were at 33.85. Potomac Intermediate is another school that continues to hold its own. They saw a slight decrease in math proficiency, but they're still performing at a strong level. And finally, we've got to go back to Tomahawk. It's high-flying in math. The overall proficiency is 56.17, which is well above their annual target of 44.77%. And look

079at that third grade. Shut up, got third grade. Their third grade was at 69.09% proficient. And remember what I told you the state averaged them to be? 70% by 2036. So I challenged their teachers, one of them in the audience back here, I challenged them next year, overall, the whole school would be above 70%, no pressure there at all. Because if you do and you maintain that over time, you're right where the state wants you at 70% proficient. Sorry, I don't want to be negative, but we were talking about cohorts on the last slide. Yeah. What do you think the little, look at, there's a little bit of a slide if we're looking at the cohorts for the intermediates. Why do you think that is? We're going to talk about it. Look at that. Oh.

080Like 50 to 45. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What's happening here? That's a good question. Some of them are going up and some of them are not. I do think that part of the challenge is if you do look at the grade level over, so you have to look at both. You have to look at both situations of the cohort as well as the same grade levels over time. One of the challenges, especially with math, and you have it, you have it in, especially in, in, in reading and literacy, but that is, is that math is so found, it is so scaffolded, you have to build upon it. And so if, and the complexity of the mathematics gets... increasingly more complex the higher the grade levels you go. And so if they are still struggling around some

081of the specific skills in order to progress to the next more complex skill. it can widen that gap a little bit. And so I think that one of the things that we have to be able to do is we have to continue to dig into the diagnostics, which we do at the end of the year, as well as the GSA data, to pick apart where is it that we see our students continuing to struggle in each grade level so that we can also then have conversations between fifth grade and fourth grade teachers so that the fourth grade teachers see what the fifth grade teachers are seeing is a deficit, right? And so that's where the power of our professional learning communities come into play. That's where the power of having data-driven conversations that are vertical

082between grade levels with teachers so that we can make very intentional instructional modifications, not huge shifts, but modifications. Because a lot of times it's just a few small concepts that can make the biggest of a difference for a student on an assessment. So it's really taking, I don't know that it would be one individual thing. It's more of a, you have to take a whole look at the picture. to see where the puzzle pieces are missing in order to make the biggest impact. And Mr. Rohn, something we changed for next school year is that we have pulled out an intervention time. So then we're going to provide teachers the time to work with students that might be struggling on a concept. So not only can they do flexible grouping within their core, still teach the

083math concept. And if I didn't get that concept that day or maybe the day before, the teacher can pull me in a small group and I can rehash that skill so that I can maybe get back to where I need to be. The kid truly falls into where they need extra support in math. That is built into our schedule next year, and we provided resources. And we presented this to the principals today of some resources that they got to look at first. If this is something that should be in the hands of our teachers and things and resources that they could utilize, the principals seemed to be very happy with what we had selected. And we've already had those materials. in our teachers' hands. So they've been utilizing those, telling us and giving us feedback

084as an instructional department to say, is this good? Did you see gains with this? One of the teachers today said four out of her six children made gains to where they could go back into the core, which that tells me our product is working pretty well. So those are the things that we were looking at today as a group of principals. So I can slightly see some of the reasoning that Dr. Sachs, what you're saying, when it comes to looking at the stomach. I've got a big concern when it comes to Rosemont. Because if I'm looking at both the math and the reading, those are giant drops. But they're great. I think Lewis said they've been working with Rosemont. Yes. But what? What is going on? But you're working, but what's going on? What happened?

085Sometimes it's the group. Sometimes you have groups that have a personality. They just go through the system. And some students that just have a, there's a group that has just some extra needs and there are some students in that school right now that. that are going through, they just need a little bit extra. And we're going to provide that to them. But that, again, we just have to take that with that. We've looked into it. And I know, and unfortunately, without actually going into some of those details, I've been with our team. I'm sorry to pinpoint that from the setting here. I know. I'm sorry. With Rosemont, like 2017, they're at, what, 51% efficient. And then last year, 64%, also 14% gain. That's all it's not. It's a little bit of a side. It's, you

086know, it's over this. And also the state's saying to us, they really truly would like there to be 70% of provision over time and maintain that. So they know we're going to have some ebbs and flows. But what we need to do is make sure that we keep an eye on that. So we see that over time, then we wouldn't know something's there. And the same, this is just one grade versus the other schools that have three. That's the other snag with that. I'm so sorry. So I also want to share the other thing that we have to be able to take a look at is this is a single moment in time when those students were assessed. And while this is what the state looks at, we also have the other resources because they

087also took an end of year already diagnostic. They take the mid year as well. And so when we are looking at how to best support the school and the hard work that our teaching staff and our principals are doing. We also have to take a look at some of those other data points to be able to help make some connections too. So absolutely, that's what we do over the summer months. We're digging into that data. We're trying to flesh out what, you know, is it a student cohort challenge? Is there a hole in something with instruction? Is there some additional professional development that we need? Is it, you know, a multitude of things? And so when we see that, We definitely recognize it and we pay attention to it. We provide support around it because

088what we want to make sure of and what we want to ensure is that we don't continue to see that. We want to see it balanced back next year too. Because the board is going to be largely new members at the beginning of the next school year, is there a way that while you guys are doing that review over the summer, there's a way for us? the new board to not necessarily have a full overview like what we're currently doing right now, but kind of have a... A summary and then kind of also get an idea of what you guys have been able to review summer and what that looks like for implementation of things. For with staff for the new year. Yes, ma'am. We, we have already started planning some of those activities with

089our new board members. So one that they can be brought to speed on here's where we currently stand. Here's some specific strategies that we're taking on to address. Deficiencies or to accelerate what we're already doing. So that. When July rolls around, then we're all on the same page. Perfect. And I would welcome you to summer school, where we call Steps to Success. We are actually using, I call it core, more and more for those kids. So they're not only getting core instruction, they're also getting tier two and tier three instruction every single day in both reading and in math. So you would see all the resources that we're using, that we use throughout the school year. You would see those implemented in those classrooms. So we can actually show them how we're doing this. Okay.

090Ms. Amorofi. In your professional development, is it all top down from the board office or are you identifying people who are overachieving? You mean to present? Or as presenters? Are you relying on the rank and file? We shared with success and we started as you saw it. Yeah, actually, today, we actually had teachers with us today in front of our principals presenting things that they are trying in their classrooms and giving the principals feedback because this is not about the board office telling you what to do. This is about, we had different products in teachers' hands, and then we had them in to talk with the principals. We're saying, here are some tools that are available that we could maybe move forward and purchase for you to remediate some math or ELA or whatever you

091would need, but let's hear from the teachers. So the teachers then gave feedback to the principal that were there in the room about, this is what I like, this particular thing, this took too long to plan. They gave us feedback, and yes, we do, because even... Even in SkillsU, there's a lot of teachers. I'm actually presenting with a teacher this year in SkillsU. We're presenting together. So yeah, there's a lot of teachers in front of our other teachers. And you're right, that makes a huge impact on buy-in. Appreciate those. Okay. Leo, move that just a little bit. Okay. Celebrations and partnerships. On this slide, as you look across the data for Avidi, ELA, and math, We have a lot to be proud of, and you see growth over time, and we're seeing students that are

092moving into proficiency, and we're seeing schools that meet or exceed their annual targets, and we're seeing schools that are very close and continue in the right direction. One of the important celebrations and partnerships that we've had this year is the Children's Literacy Initiative, or CLI. This year, CLI has provided support to both the district level, us here in the office, and directly in our schools. We're seeing measurable growth, like you saw today in Orchard View. evil school and that growth is a reflection of the data that that part of that data was a reflection of what the work is that's being done with CLI. That partnership has been strong for Berkley County Schools and I also want to give a shout out to Amber Addison and Dr. Green that are on that team. They've done

093a phenomenal job of supporting our district and our schools principals and teachers. Their work has helped to strengthen our instructional practices and support continuous improvement and they've also been very strong about helping us to implement what at the state... that I just was at, I was asking, what do you want us to do with our students in summer school? What do you expect? And there was not a whole lot of direction. And I would say that CLI has been instrumental in helping us to narrow our focus. What is attainable? What is not attainable? Not saying that, you know, we just don't want to just spray and pray. That's not a good approach. So we took all of our standards that were deficient and we looked at those and we broke those all down and they've

094helped us dramatically. Let me ask you all quickly. Are ECATS involved in summer school at all? There are. We actually have some interventionists that are involved. We have some ECATS here and there, but not as many as we've had in the past because we're using interventionists this school year. But we are providing them training twice because we want to use them a little more. But what we found is they need to be trained in our intervention tools. So again, until they're trained in our intervention tools, they can't use them. So I know Mrs. Stevens this summer is providing an intervention training for ECATS that we're going to pay ECATS to be a part of. So then the principals can then utilize them to actually help students in math and reading. So they'll be trained. So

095we need to provide them more intensive training and remediation tools. I mean, we can't expect them to do when we don't teach them. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. And this is, the summer is going to give us an opportunity to help a lot of them. We're also seeing an impact with our adopted curriculum that was used with fidelity in both reading and math. And these resources have supported all teachers. They support veteran teachers as well as... the teachers that have been there for years and they also support teachers who are newer to our profession and they need just a little bit extra or people that are not certified. I had the opportunity to see firsthand Mrs. Walker at Berkeley Heights and give a shout out to her because she had a phenomenal lesson. She's a new teacher

096and when I walked into her classroom to see how she was using the resources and what it looked like, you would have never known that she was new. She was in credit to her hard work, but it shows that the importance of having strong content and the things that she needed. She had that curriculum wrapped all around her, up on the screen, everything. The kids were working and you would never know that she was not a seasoned teacher. Another area of progress this year has been our walk-through process, like Dr. Sachs alluded to, like we have to look at check, it's done. So that data is work to help us to drive our instruction in a consistent kind of way. The common understanding is important because it helps the principals, district leaders, and our teachers

097have a clear conversations about teaching and learning and we've also initiated our workaround of our high impact practices across grades K through five and our academic specialists and our aims have just been instrumental in making sure that our teachers they get the coaching and the support that they need and you know What you said earlier, I think our motto in the department is to coach up, not coach out. We don't have the luxury of coaching anybody out. So if anybody is saying, I need to improve this, then we are coaching them up. And I think that's our philosophy. It's about giving them right what they need when they need it. As district leaders, we've had to remain focused on continuous improvement. And we support our principals just like today. We want to make sure that

098our principals are. learning new things that make them impactful instructional leaders in our school. We have also continued to use teacher feedback groups not only for magnetic literacy but also around in other areas as well. That feedback is important because if we want to have, if we always do what we've always done, we're always going to get what we've always got. So we need to use that but also treat our teachers like they are professionals, get their feedback and say, well, what do you need from us? Or did this not work? Or is the pacing not quite right? We got a lot of information from our focus group and that was, it was instrumental in how we're moving forward. This last one, Dr. Mr. Murphy over here was referring to this. This is why we're

099doing what we're doing. This is the year, 2026-2027. At the end of the school year, if a kid in third grade is not proficient in reading or math by the end of the school year based on the GSA, they will be retained. That's what the legislation says that we have to do. There are eight good cause exemptions. That's truly not why I'm here today. I just want to put this slide in because we have to be the very best for our students. We can expect no less from every single classroom member of the county schools. Because at the end of the day, when I stand before a parent and say that your child's going to be retained, I want to know that they got the very, very best. Look at the numbers up on the

100screen here for just a second. If you look at mathematics based on this school year, 321 of our students, or 23%, out of the kids that were tested will be retained. If you look at reading, 352 students, which is 26%, out of our 1,369 students that were tested, will be retained at the end of next school year. Now, that looks staggering. Some of those kids are the same kids, so that's not all. So we've got to look at that. But I have to give a celebration here. Even though that's alarming, there is a celebration. If you look at last year's test scores, we were in the 30s. This year, we're in the 20s. if we can all do our job next year and do the very best we possibly can we can lower that number

101even lower now remember that number does include students with ieps and maybe at l students that haven't had l services for a long enough amount of time so that's those good pause exemptions but what i want to point out is just again we have a we have an urgent need to do the right thing for kids so whatever we do whatever decisions that we make let's put kids first because that is the most important thing because again at the end of the day i don't want to be the reason why a kid was retained because i didn't do everything that i possibly could hey lewis gave you the background on um how the data is computed so i'm just going to dive right into mine give some highlights um so with the middle school I'll

102start with that. Now, we've only had one year of iReady, and it's actually iReady Pro. It's not the same iReady as they do for K5. North did do it for two years because they piloted the first year, and they were the regular iReady, and then it switched into the iReady Pro. So, as you can see, there was growth at every level, 6th, 7th, and 8th grain. I don't know ours. It had a red box on it. It doesn't on here. But this is what you should look at from diagnostic one to diagnostic three. This, to me, is a little too stagnant. It doesn't look like we have moved as many students as we should have from the three to tier two. But there is some celebration there from our tier one students. I'm in control

103of this. So when you look, this is our math data. And we do have several celebrations here with math. I want to definitely give a shout out to South Middle School. If you look at their sixth grade math, the amount of growth that they, it was almost 15 points from their sixth grade. So Mr. Barney will be doing some. professional development in the fall to we can pick his brain and see exactly what they did with their sixth grade. I know South Middle worked some MTSS around the times that they had. They don't have a class period just for that, but he found ways at lunchtime, at homeroom, and did some great things with his math homework. We have several of our schools that did meet. their goal, clear state goal. As you can see

104there in green. I have to agree with Mr. Martin when our kids get from middle school, they really are. There's always a dip in middle school. It usually starts in fifth grade, the dip starts, and then it goes back up. And that is something I'm going to talk about here at the end a little bit, why we're looking at changing up that middle school schedule and trying to get to the root cause of that. Okay, great. Okay, this is the ELA data. So what I want to talk about, just showing you those two slides, the celebrations are obviously north and south middle demonstrated the strongest growth in both ELA and META. South continues to emerge as a significant turnaround success. North achieved the largest school-wide gain and has improved for three consecutive years, which is

105a big shout-out to North, which is awesome with Eagle because Eagle feeds into North, and they're doing great things there as well. Muscleman Middle's eighth grade math did go up 11 points. But I think if I keep going back to South Middle, but in the last five years, they've gained 13.7 points overall as a school. So Mr. Barney and his staff are definitely accelerating the growth at South Middle School. He's not quite here yet with... reaching their the the state goal but if you look back from 2017-18 they have surpassed that so they are definitely on the upskate south middle school which middle schools do you know and i'm i'm quizzing you on this so pop quiz um do you Know which middle schools had the integrated reading with ELA versus the middle schools that

106had the separate ELA and reading class. North Middle School and Musselman Middle School are the two that have the integrated ELA and the MCSS period. Musselman and you said? North. And then South has variations of it throughout the day. They just don't have their own intervention period. But they still have the separate ELA. So it's almost like they have a mixture of hybrid. Okay. What do they call it? There's farm. I'm sorry, who said that? Teresa, thank you. It was something like that. Like I said, they have done a very good job with that. stability Hedgesville and Mountain Ridge remain the district's highest performing middle schools despite slight declines. We just need to figure out a way to reignite that growth at those two schools. Because they're up there, but they're just stuck. So we've

107got to keep pushing them. Spring mills did experience significant declines across all grade levels this year. And we just have to determine, is that just a one-year anomaly or we just don't want it to become true? So it just has to be that cohort of students. So that's just something to dive into. So just because I'm a statistics person and curious to point out. the schools that either had the hybrid-ish look as well as the ones that had the ELA and the integrated ELA and writing saw increases in iReadyData proficiency. versus the schools that had separated out reading classes and ELA. Do you mean GSA? GSA, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I apologize. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So it's just very interesting. Well, one of the GSA, however, so I have remained standard more with the

108integrated ELA. then we are not. So district-wide, our ELE proficiency remains clustered in the low to mid 40s. It's just stuck. So no school met its annual proficiency target. Several schools remain significantly below that. And these results underscore the need for structures that provide both comprehensive literacy instruction and systemic intervention opportunities. The combined DLV reading model of the MTSS period is designed to address that need by increasing access to grade-level literacy instruction while providing targeted support and enrichment based on the student debt. So the WPGSA measures student performance across multiple literacy domains, including reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, analysis of literacy, and informational text, writing, language conventions, and the use of evidence. So success in ELA requires students to demonstrate proficiency across all of these interconnected skills and not just comprehension alone. So that is where

109this is what's coming from with our scheduling. And I had described it to a couple people last week. I was trying to think of just a really easy way to explain it to everyone. It's just like a chair that has four legs. If you take that one leg away, what happens to the chair? It's off balance. So you, we have to do this all together. to build upon these skills. And I was talking to Louis, because I am not an elementary person, and you do have to teach skills separately when they're younger. The phonics, the listening, the, what else, Louis? Other things you do. But then as you build on your skills, it gets more in-depth. And somebody had mentioned this. You know, the standards, they get harder, I don't know if it's harder, more

110difficult, more in-depth as you, you know, the older you get. We're trying to set those students up for success, and then in the MTSS period, we can hone in on those areas that they're having issues with. And we want to enrich them. Not every student should go through that reading class. Reading class was supposed to be for an intervention. or they used to call it remedial reading, but it's actually just a support class to get students back up to that level. So not every student should be taking that aid. Any other questions from your school? Yes, I did. Just based on your last comment and also our guests that came here and spoke on the combined ELA reading. And you stated that the reading was... initially intended as more of a support correct because so

111you're saying previously it was it was never separated yes without oh that's what you're saying i think you're berkeley county it has for quite a long time it's been separated in middle school now if you read like if you read policy 2510 it explains the support class versus the ela integrated But the standards are the same. That's the problem, too. The standards, if somebody's doing an intervention reading class, like we did at North, we actually had one in the UA rotation. It's the same standards. And you're not allowed, you're not supposed to get a grade for each one, either. For both. Yes. Jumping over a couple slides. So, Mr. Schenowen, we don't jump. Opportunities for growth. Just a question, because this is a middle school question. Seventh grade can use to be a focal point.

112That's correct. What do you mean? It always seems our seventh grade scores dip. And last year, I don't know if you remember, last year's scores were lower than they've ever been. But it was a statewide issue. So we've got to get to the bottom of what's going on in seventh grade with the standards all the way around math and English. And if anybody knows seventh grade is not the best year for anyone. When I was at the middle school in the 80s, not running, but working, that was a year then. Yeah, there's a lot more going on there than just academics. Yes. That is correct. Definitely. So that was why I was having an interesting time. Wait, so I'll go back to mine again. Okay. Okay. So previously this has always been separate. But that

113separate reading class, was it always remedial or was it just a separate class? So are there two different things between the difference between the remedial reading class and a... Is there a remedial reading class and a regular reading class? No, it's just the same. It's just the same. Okay. It's tended to be a support class. And I don't know if you remember, when I was principal, we had a young adult fiction class. It had about 80 kids in it. And it was to support those students that were still struggling in reading. And we had a sport math class as well. But think about it. There's 80 kids out of 1,700 that would need that. We can have reading classes in middle school, but it could be in a UA period. It could be just for

114certain students. It could be just high-interest reading for fun. And I challenge the middle school principals to work those in. If you're an English teacher, one period, you could teach a UA rotation in creative writing or anything like that. We just need to shift our mindset on what we're doing with the L.A. reading. So they can still incorporate, they can still develop the love of reading within, you said, you mean about arts, basically. Correct. And like I was going to Mrs. Campbell and say, can add to this, when you're, like with study sync, or when you're teaching anything in the ELA curriculum, there are excerpts from novels, from stories, from, those are to catch those kids and then you can hand them the novel. They can take that home. They can read it at other,

115at other, at other, well. I know the, the excerpts. aren't as good as reading the whole novel. I mean, I love to read. I love to read. But so it's giving. an excerpt is like doing the clip notes. You'll sort of get the overall, but you'll miss a lot. Well, you're teaching the integrated grading. You're pulling it from all different excerpts, and that's what your general summative assessment is. Because it's critical reading. It's... Go ahead. Can I stand here? Okay. So StudySync is based on excerpts. in the text for the online version. And it is designed, as you said, it will give them a sneak peek. It is not a note. It is an excerpt. So it could be chapter four. It could be, you know, just part of the chapter even. However, of those

116excerpts in StudySync, there are novels and novel study guides that go with. Some, not all, but some of the excerpts. And if you look at the design of StudySync, you can see some of the first readers and close readers. Those are the ones that typically become the novel studies. And Berkeley County has adopted everything with StudySync. We have the online version, and every student either has a workbook or every classroom has a classroom set of contact text. So we can do... hybrid, all online. We have the whole package, including novels. And the design of StudySync is, it's already a spiral set, or a spiral text, if you will, the whole textbook. So as you're teaching, you're teaching a first reading of the excerpt. And then you would teach a close read with in-depth questions to

117really get them thinking. And all of those close read questions are DOK-3, Depth of Knowledge 3, which are a big chunk of the GSA. So it's very, very closely aligned to GSA. Now, as for novels, you can teach a novel. But one of the things we discovered having split classes is that People in a reading class enjoy TV reading and we're seeing a lot of teachers reading to the students. And when you mathematically look at the number of minutes spent reading to students, you're losing valuable discussion time. Some of the questions are very surface level. We're not using the study guides from StudySync, which are aligned to the questions on the GSA, really get that in-depth coverage. So they're bringing in their own questions. And sometimes, myself included, I was just a middle school teacher,

118we want to get them talking about that love of reading. So we've just got to make sure we're doing things. in our time frame. And it's very doable. High school teachers do it at 9 through 12. And having, one of the things we ran into in the middle school, that reading class is labeled developmental reading. And I would have students and parents come in, and the schedule says developmental reading, and they're like, why is my kid here? So that, as Ms. Plotner was saying, that is part of what the reading is in that policy. So I just want to make sure everyone knows the excerpts are there. They will entice students, but they're there so you can show your students how to read a passage, how to think of a part. If you're using the

119questions in StudySync, they're very much aligned with GSA. There are routines. I did several PDs in the... middle school this year on the closed-read routine, the questioning. So we have the product to cover these things. It's also integrated writing, reading and writing, so that there's writing with every skill, and then there's also a writing unit in each unit of study center. And the way it's designed, and I promise to be quiet in a minute. The way it's designed, you cover the first four units, you will have covered every standard in the last week. Okay, so it's mainly to try to, like you said, develop the student's ability to critically read, which is something a lot of us, a lot of adults lack. Let's go back to what I was talking about earlier, read the headline.

120But we fail to read the story. We read the parts to really get in-depth knowledge of what's going on. But then we also have the opportunity to teach that novel. We have the novels. We just need to actually teach that excerpt. When we go in to teach that reading, we need to be confident that, honestly, our students do need to be reading more on their own. They need to be... suddenly reading. They need to be reading with partners. And that builds their reading standard. They need to be reading at home. You know, if that's something we want to look at, you know, parents should see our students bringing books home and reading 15 minutes a day. That could be their homework for their ELA class and getting their D.P.M. as well. So we're not saying

121they can't teach novels. I want to make sure. I'm just saying they have to be taught in our ELA classes, which is, you know, language arts. It's English language arts and that does cover reading. So it looks different. So we're not saying no to novels. Absolutely not. What we're saying, it looks different than what we've been traditionally doing for the last few years. And when we're doing it well, the way that, especially the way that some of our other schools have integrated it into our ELA, we're actually seeing our kids do well on the West Virginia summative assessment and their marks improved. Yes, and I'm fully in this old feeling of... And we worked very closely this year in doing PEs and their staff did a very, very good job of implementing the LA. And

122there was some pushback at first. Then they started seeing their common form of assessments start growing and they were like, wow. Okay, so and that's, that's gonna be my next question. I apologize. It was, where was the pushback? And because obviously, I know, I'm already I'm hearing the pushback, man. And I, I understand the concerns that I'm hearing. I want everybody to understand we are hearing concerns. I see you. I hear you guys. But in in that thing, There's pushback, but after the pushback is there, once you push through and you get onto the other side of it, there is the actual benefit. Okay. Well, when I did a survey, a study sync with all the high schools, there was the majority of it, a lot of studies sent, and there was a little bit

123of, but if we need to do this, this, and this. Now, when Dr. Woods and Dr. Saxon and I were at, I don't know if it was Hedgesville or what high school it was, I mean, they were teaching novels. So it's not that they're not. Yes. So I would ask that while I hear that there's pushback, I hear that. I hear it. I see it. I also am hearing other veteran teachers, other veteran staff. So I'm hearing veteran teachers push back saying it's not this. We need to keep it. And I'm seeing veteran staff tell me, no, we need to do the integrated. I'm hearing both. I'm going to ask that as I'm looking at data. We have, we as a board have to make certain decisions right now, this evening, as we go through

124things. But as we go through this, we're hearing both sides. We're hearing it. Well, let's not only finish the high school assessment. Will you finish with the middle school? I guess, unless you guys have any input. Well, let's go to the high school, if you're ready for that. Hey, this is our PSAT 8-9 data. And also, you know, we've had some significant growth here. Large increases by all schools on both. Shout outs to Marksburg High and Spring Mills High, who had 43 and 48 from 2025 to 2026, which is... Amazing. Musselman High School and Hedgesville High School are still among the top two, but Marksburg and Spring Mills are gaining ground quickly, and they're gaining it in double and triple digits. You guys have any questions on this? Can you tell from where this is

125going? Like from Sprint Mills, high here, 778 to 810. Yeah. That's a huge job here, yes. Yeah, definitely. It's a huge job. We don't have, I realize that West Virginia gives everyone the SAT in other states. It's a voluntary process. But somewhere in here, a civil said, I'm just wondering. Where are we ranking national with those students? I don't have the national totals on here. I have the statements here in a second. Yeah, it's just whenever you do that, it's exactly like you said. There's only 11 states that do the SAT as their assessment. And it's hard to compare to Virginia when they do the standard of learning. They're tested on their standards in a different way. What about me? You never hear anything about NAEP as far as West Virginia scores. So, so, so

126NAEP. is administered to random schools every single year. So they're going to pick up a random set of schools in West Virginia and they say, okay, you're going to be assessed on NAEP and it goes for America's report card. So I don't know what schools were identified this year. We'd have to ask Robin, but traditionally speaking, we probably have three to four schools every year that are selected that have to do the NAEP assessment. It's supposed to be random, but in my experience, it's always the same schools. I agree. But again, it's a random sampling of schools, and it doesn't necessarily go down to the district level. But the NAEP is the early national assessment board. Yes, sir. It is a national assessment, yes, but one, yes, that's random. One could look at AP scores

127for students that are in AP classes, you know, the pass rate by school, the pass rate by district, the pass rate by state for advanced placement exams. You could also look at SAT or ACT scores as well to see how the state through college board would be. you know, ranked in the country, but I don't know that we've exactly looked at that for this presentation, but we can definitely provide it though. So normally you're looking at, if you're looking at a 10 point jump in, it is significant, but again, Spring Mills High School, 48 point jump, Marksburg 43, Schmaltzman 36, Hedgesville 25. They're making significant progress with their PSAT. Okay, this is same for math. Significant jumps again. Spring Mills, 32. Mosselman, 14. Martinsburg, 24. And Hedgesville, 9. SAT school day. Got a lot of

128positive results on this. Although Spring Mills did go down a little bit. We, Mr. South, he and Ms. Markle, myself, we had booked back in that cohort. That group of students were quite a bit lower on the PSAT. So this is actually a pretty good jump for them. It just doesn't look, you know, when you're comparing last year to this year, it went down. But Springville's higher, are doing some great things with all grade levels. And from what they have shown growth-wise on the PSAT 10, They could easily jump everybody next year when we are talking about our SAT scores. But big shout out, obviously, to all the schools. Musselman remains. At the top of the tier, Hedgesville's right on their tail, obviously. And Martinsburg are just making tremendous gains to catch up with everyone.

129And these are the four most competitive people you'll ever meet. They get along extremely well. They collaborate together, but they are competitive because all get out. They were checking these scores at 12.01 in the middle of the night to see who got what. This is Mr. Murphy for you. Berkeley County Schools are up eight points over, and the state actually dropped five. So we had two of our high schools were above the state, but as a district, we are above the state overall. We believe with the work that we're doing, we'll have all four high schools above the state next year. Yes, sir. It's a testament to the... Awesome work in our high school classrooms and the leadership of those schools for sure. They're doing an outstanding job. So the last thing I have, there's

130just some more trend data with the reading, writing, and the math before that. Positive gains. There's our trends. Again, look at Marksburg High School, Musselman High School, Marksburg High School. And then celebrations and growth. As Louis said, our partnership with CLI has resulted in some great structural gains at North Middle. Consistent use of the curriculum has been positive at all our schools. We talked about South Middle's increase. I just said the two high schools. And Marsburg High has the highest growth with double-digit gains in several areas. So a lot to celebrate at the secondary level. Thank you. So now the team, we're going to transition into the magnetic literacy college program. Lewis and some other members of the team. And we also have some teachers here as well who actually are part of the focus

131groups to share the work that we've done around the curriculum this year and some of the feedback that we've gotten. This is Clever. See if they were looking for the talk. Sure. Good evening, President Long, Board Members, and Dr. Sachs. Tonight, I'm here to share an update on the Magnetic Literacy Pilot Program. This work has been a part of the continued effort of Berkeley County Schools to strengthen literacy instruction, align our practices to the science of reading, and provide teachers with the materials and support that they need to help our students become proficient readers and writers. This presentation will walk us through how we got here, the rollout process, feedback from our teachers, and our recommendation as we move into the 26-27 school year. How did we get here? I understand how we got here.

132It's so important that we look back. Perth and County Schools adopted Scholastic Literacy in 2021 and the implementation we implemented that fall. Over time we received consistent teacher feedback that Scholastic did not meet the needs of our students or our teachers. Teachers shared that it did not cover all the five literacy components necessary for students to become proficient readers. and it followed a balanced literacy approach instead of a structured literacy approach. There were also concerns that the assessment that were based on guided reading levels and the three cueing systems, which means it looks at meaning, structure, and visual cues, and it's not fully aligned with the science of reading. In response, the district added UFLY, which we've heard so much about, and Hegarty in 2023 to help address the gaps in the foundational skills, especially

133phonemic awareness and phonics. And it's based around teacher requests and the individuals that were in the field. Chris DePetrudo was a principal that helped to bring that here with Opec and once that got around and the teachers were trained, it was something that they fell in love with and they saw the benefits of having that program. So while these additions helped, scholastic literacy was still left on the shelf in many of our classrooms because it did not provide a comprehensive, structured program that the teachers actually needed. One point, pardon me for the interruption, but I had a dialogue with teachers at CENET, and they were pointing out that our textbook selection process needs review. They just felt that the best was not being selected. And I said that we're allowing teachers to be part of

134the input, the selection process. And so... I just, I don't have an answer. I can't articulate the problem. We need to review how we select posts. That's possible. Because when you all come in here saying this is going to cost a couple million dollars for a book, we say, well, is it good? Everybody's in the amen course. But then a year or two later, you hear everybody complaining about it. Scholastic was an example. There was a math series a couple years ago. It was an example. So I don't know what the solution is, but I think the teachers did point out a problem. I think the solution I would see is if you had a teacher from every school on a selection committee because the textbooks that are chosen before they were adopted go back

135to the schools for review and input. So unless we have somebody from every school on their selection committee. And we do, and I've been a part of those. And then they vote. And then it's the majority of the rules. And then because of some people that, you know, again, they don't get what they truly maybe wanted at that time. It's not selected, but it's... the majority of the schools. One thing we do when we're on a committee, I've been on whenever Amber was running that for us, we don't discuss money. Nothing like that is ever brought up. It's truly take a look at the product, come back with the teachers. There's a teacher at each school that gets paid. Make sure that they get in front of the staff, that they talk about the different

136tanks that are available. They have to send them out to make sure that they're seen. We have to make sure that they're available here in the public so the public can come see them. So there's... ample opportunity for people to look at these resources. Now, whether they do or not, that is the question. But again, I think it's also one of those things where as a board, maybe in the future, we take whenever we have those samples out, we maybe spend some time with maybe a work session or something, taking a look at those before we bring something to you. So you guys would then also know what is available that you guys, they could have selected or that they're recommending to you. Because remember, it's a recommendation to the board. Do we present them

137to the schools during times where there's faculty sentence where the teachers are gathered? I'm just asking a question because I don't I don't know what discussions go on at the schools. I don't know how it's presented to the teachers at the schools. Actually, I'm sorry. I know Mrs. Otto and her colleague back there specifically as it relates to elementary curriculum. I know you all did a fantastic job on the music and the arts. So I start on some of the reading adoptions and whenever I've done several adoptions, we get the curriculum, we put it out for the teachers. And part of our job is, as a member of that team, is to make sure that all the teachers... go there and look at the materials. And I try, like, I know when I've done it,

138I've tried to put it out there and provide them with information when, based on our meetings, you know, I'll type something up and give it to every teacher so that they know the pros and the cons of all of it. But I give them opportunities to go and explore the materials themselves. And we really do suggest that they take the materials to their classroom, try a lesson. out of all of them. So they're actually big, they can take it and then try a lesson out of it. And they're giving their online codes as well, where they can explore the online. And now the caravans that call them for the textbooks are virtual. So they've had a lot of virtual caravans where people can log in to see what resources are and you hear from the

139company themselves. Yeah, well, and to add to that, I think the only issue that we ran into at the museum, and I think sometimes this is, there are only certain companies that are available through the caravan that are available to West Virginia. So it's like, in order to get a curriculum textbook passed. There's like a whole year process where they have to make sure that they are an approved West Virginia vendor. So we ran into with music and arts and health and all of that, that there was only, for some, there was only one vendor we could choose from. For some, there was multiple vendors we could choose from. But the process was kind of with the vendors. But there's definitely always school representatives. They definitely pass it out. There's the online caravan. We had

140online Zoom meetings. We had even rated it by each little section of how it would help each of the artists. So there was a voting process. And it wasn't just like voting your best. You had to give input. We had multiple group meetings together. I think we had about four or five group meetings together to discuss each of the things. So I think the only reason why you see sometimes this is the companies that we can use. I don't hide behind the phrase taxpayer all the time. I mean, we spend over $300 million in this system. But to have a paragraph at the bottom of the previous slide, it's like a last thing that's left on the shelf. That's wasting a lot of time. Absolutely. It was. I agree. But we did find that, especially

141I think that was a big push for whenever we talked to you about the beginning of the school year, making sure that curriculum is being used. You can't find that in our classrooms. We need to make sure that our kids have the right to be exposed to the curriculum that the board has adopted and approved to each and every classroom. And I am sorry, but I also have to. say that it wasn't just scholastic. So when we did our, I want to just remind the board that when we did our curriculum audit last year, curriculum and curriculum audit, not only was it scholastic, we found was for the most part not being used in some schools at all. It was also the study sync. There was, you know, that audit revealed that we still had

142study sync. workbooks in plastic wrapping on shelves. And so that is why there has been such a focus this year when we think about our high impact instructional practices of making sure that we are using the adopted curriculum with fidelity. Because there is a reason that it was adopted because there is a high correlation to the alignment of the standard, not 100% always. But a high correlation to the standards and it's what we need to be able to do to focus on high quality professional development, not just for our existing staff, but new staff when they're hired. And that was honestly one of the things I think that we missed the boat on earlier on was making sure that we had that intentional professional development for new staff being hired on on these curriculum resources

143also. So I've all done. Another question. I apologize. It's okay. We can blame Mr. Murphy for this. When we're asking our teachers to vote on the curriculum, we have some amazing teachers who are not yet certified, but they're going through the certification process. Are all teachers, irrespective of certification, are all of our teachers allowed to vote? Yeah, they're all staff allowed to vote. There's representatives from the school, and they saw the representatives from the school, and then they come to this committee, but they go back with the vote. So the vote comes in to that person, that person tallies that, and then that is brought to the meeting. And if non-certified staff members told they can't vote, what does that mean? I'm just asking a question because I was told that a non-certified staff member

144was not allowed to vote. I would say that I don't have any information where that would be appropriate. And we would just want to make sure that's brought to the attention of the executive director. Definitely a misunderstanding. I think that's something where, you know, again, times change. Mr. Murphy is saying we need to revisit that. Could be one of the things where we revisit that. And we, this time, have changed. This policy hasn't been updated. We have some amazing teachers in our county that are working towards their certification. And we are clamoring for them. We're biting at the bits for them to get certified. I just don't want to, you know, throw the baby out with the bathwater kind of thing. Just like I said last time, it would be very important if you had

145somebody who's either a new teacher or somebody who's maybe not certified, but they're working on their certification. That would be important for them to look at that curriculum. Is this something that I could follow? I think just as important as it would be for a seasoned teacher to take a look at that that's been around for a while, that's maybe looking at it more and deeper in for that content. But again, also the understanding of that new person to be able to use that curriculum. Because if you look at it, Sometimes, there was several curriculums that have been used in my, when I was at Eagle School, and I would say that is great for a person who understands and knows, but for somebody who doesn't, that's not a great curriculum for us to be

146using. So you have to look at it through different lenses. Okay. Lewis, I'm not trying to rush you, but we have a few. Excuse me. I can make this go fast. Okay. It's 8-12. So actually, if you look at this, this is a little bit of a breakdown. I'm going to look at the last bit that I have here. But we have, this is a... We had magnetic foundations was started at the very beginning of the school year. We had to do that because the point of this whole slide is that magnetic literacy was not available. They're building it for the next adoption cycle that we will have in the state of West Virginia, but it was not available. So that's one of the reasons why we decided, though, we didn't want to wait because

147we knew people were not using scholastic. So we had two bumps in the road this past year. And that's the reason why, because magnetic literacy wasn't up. quite ready, but they said we can get you four, five, units four, five, and six. And so we had to put together pieces that they had that they were using to create the curriculum the first semester. So we spent a lot of time with the academic specialists, the people that were here in our office, putting things together. And I feel, I know it might have felt a little bumpy, but I will tell you, it would have been a disastrous hole if it wasn't for the people that were working behind the scenes to put this together for our teachers. It could have been disastrous. So again, We know

148that it wasn't rolled out exactly perfect because it wasn't available to even be rolled out in the very beginning of the school year. But I think with our teachers getting their feedback with it this year from January to now, I think we have seen growth. So I'm hoping that we see even more growth next year because I think we will. We start from the beginning of the school year and go to the end. This, the rollout, it's finally here. December of 2025, teachers received manuals for units four through six. Our academic staff did two planning period professional developments. And in January of 2026, they came and they did a PD for our teachers. And magnetic foundations turned into magnetic literacy, and it was off and going. With that being said, in April, All units are

149turned on digitally for our teachers so they can see units 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 online so they can look to see what's going to be happening to them next school year, what they're going to be utilizing. And those units 1, 2, and 3 will be available early summer. So just soon we can purchase those. We can get those to our teachers early summer. I've asked the principals then to contact their teachers so we can get those in their hand. The rollout was not perfect, but again, it was done intentionally to make the change so that we could get to this point that we are today. And I think that we just couldn't wait. We just could not wait any longer. The implementation. During the implementation, teachers and ECATS were given pacing guides and

150they were to be used with fidelity. We also recognize that there were bumps in the road. At times, the curriculum was implemented, especially during a pilot year, and that there were challenges. We wanted to listen carefully to our teachers who were doing our work each and every day to get the feedback. We held a teacher focus group on April 21st and May 5th. These focus groups included faculty senate and principal selective representatives and they numbered to 53 people that were there. The big takeaways were very helpful overall. The teachers liked the curriculum. They shared that there were errors in the text and that at times the slides did not match the workbook. They also shared concerns with the pacing and they wanted more times for the students to actually master a task. So the pacing

151dots were a little too fast. The teacher didn't, but they were not. They needed to be more direct, specific skills in writing, but they were hoping that that might be in the first three units. That teacher feedback was very valuable to us. And what we did, Loft, was what the teacher said was one of the most important parts of the process was just listening to our teachers, and they shared with us that they felt magnetic literacy. was a comprehensive curriculum that include comprehension, vocabulary, and writing. And they also said that the students loved the topics which were engaging. And that really does matter to help with kids' interest whenever they're reading and discussing and writing about those topics. Teachers also appreciated that students had the opportunity to write each and every day, and they look

152forward to seeing what it would look like in the first three units. Another piece of that feedback was we talked about the already minutes. We know what we expected this. school year when the teachers were given a SATA, which is like they get to put the input in, and what came out of that SATA was the teachers would prefer 30 to 40 minutes. So again, after that's all said and done, how do we move forward in 2026 and 2027? Well, as we move forward, here's some recommendations. First, and you heard our superintendent say this at one of the board meetings, for the already pathway minutes, we're moving to 30 to 40 minute range. So the principal and the teachers can select exactly what that looks like in their school, but as far as our expectations,

153we made a range for both reading and math. Second, our schools and our classrooms may choose either youth lab or Hegerkin that came out of the teacher group for foundational literacy skills instead of using magnetic literacy, or they can use a combination of either. We educated our principals. that today looking at the master schedule this gives the schools flexibility and ensuring that students are going to receive strong instruction and foundational skills no matter what that teacher chooses Third, that we will continue to have our focus groups. As this pilot goes along, remember it's a pilot and we have not adopted this. We want to hear back from our teachers because now we're going to dive into units one, two, and three. We want to hear about how that's going. And the final recommendation was 95%

154of our focus group teachers at the primary level, especially, they voted to continue with the pilot of magnetic literacy as the core curriculum for the 26-27 school year. Please don't return to scholastic literacy is what we received. And based on that feedback, I'm recommending that our K-5 schools use this resource continuing into the 26th, 27th school year. Question. Yes. Over the last couple of months, there's been a lot of concern expressed over autonomy in the classroom. Yes. We've had a lot of teachers express that they felt that they did not have that. I know that... Let me share something with you. Yeah, please. We're working on the master schedule. And we gave several opportunities for the principals to build in some of that autonomy. We gave them, it depends on how the principal decides, the

155instructional leader of that building decides to set up their master schedule. We gave them multiple suggestions. And I'm going to go around and visit each one of the principals and approve their master schedule at the very, very end. For instance, to give you a perfect example, that already minutes that we talked about. Sometimes it's really important that if you put 15 minutes together, because you can't do five. You don't have enough time to complete a lesson. So it'll start you over and over and over. We don't want that to happen to kids. So if you're building 15 minutes for reading, 15 minutes for math, if you add those minutes up across, if you put them into a schedule, you don't need all those minutes for the whole week. So there again, what does it look

156like? If you take those two 15s and put them together, like I told some of the principals, that's 30 minutes. If you think about that and you put that in a schedule now, maybe on Tuesday, I'm going to do I ready. Read it. Maybe on Thursday, I'm going to do I Ready Math, and we're going to have a block of time, and we're going to get it and knock it out. Give it to a kid that's absent. I see that. What about the other parts of, you put that in as I Ready Minutes. So now I've got... three 30-minute sections there that I have time as a teacher to do something else. Maybe I need to reteach a subject. Maybe I want to spend a little bit more time on a lab for science. Maybe

157I want to teach how to get along on the internet, which we are required to do with our SIPA standards. Surely as long as we have that one. But here's where you put all that other stuff in, and the teachers have that autonomy. We also... Again, with intervention, depending on what your intervention looks like in your schedule, it's in our master schedule, our principals have put in there, but that also gives that time back to the teachers. Then if you don't require all that time for intervention, then you have some autonomy there and we give them suggestions, especially at the primary level where we're just not teaching those foundational skills. If you don't need it and they're mastering it. that's time for you. So we helped our principals to see where they can add that

158time again. Okay. And that allows more of that face-to-face interaction that the teachers had expressed that they wanted back with their kids instead of it being felt like it was shoved in. an iPad. Well, and one of the principals was saying they were talking, they were having a deep conversation and I loved it today. They were even talking about putting those iReady minutes together and then they were going to have conversations with their teachers to decide what are they going to do? What is this foundational skills going to look like? Are they going to use UFLY or are they going to use the foundational pieces of magnetic literacy? And one of the principals said, what if we do both? And they were going to work a schedule where that time up here where you had

159the iReady minutes that you were not using, that was going to be UFLY time. in their school and down here they were going to be using those foundational pieces of magnetic literacy. So there's a lot of flexibility there even for a principal to say I think this is the best day for our kids. I think from April until now we have made some huge strides of where we've come from. Oh, yeah. When that's from the focus groups. Yes, yes. And I'll tell you, I got word back. Some teachers were there and gave really great information to our representatives from Curriculum Associates. They drove in, flew in, and they listened to our teachers. And 90% of the things that the teachers gave input on, they have already tweaked and changed. So our teachers gave that feedback.

160They were like, slides are too small. I had to redo this. It takes me time to do that. They fixed it based on our teachers' input for those focus groups. So I'm hoping that's better. And if not, we're going to bring it back into Wilson. I've already seen the changes in the online component where they added things. And yeah, they were many, many notes. Good. Because I think you were the one that brought up that they didn't match. There's things that don't match. Yeah. Well, I mean, if you think about a teacher using a tool, using an online tool, and it's not matching the kid's workbook, that could be off. So the teacher's saying, I need it to match the kid's workbook because I'm up here demonstrating. Those are the kind of things that when

161you're in front of the... That's frustrating. You're telling them to go on to the next thing, and then it's not on the screen, and they're like, but that's not in our book. So I just started uploading the book. He was the book instead. Sure, yeah. What about some of the notes? I'm just looking ahead. Yeah, thanks. Coming soon. Coming soon. Coming soon. We're not going to be like we were this past year. Something will grow out in January and everybody will swim there. Yeah, we're much, we're much, we're in a much better place this year. The spelling's done. Assessment guides are done. All the things that I think that are really crucial to the teachers, they have to make a lot of copying this year for their assessments. I think those are already printed for

162them in a booklet. So they're separate. So the assessment booklet will come out. The spelling's finished. There are all kinds of things that are all done for them this school year. And we have PD that you'll see maybe in a later slide that our PD we've already set up so that we know how we're going to give our teachers the PD in August and a follow-up in October. We're going to front load it, we're going to go on, and it's done. So I think that's what the teachers need, and it's as soon as we can get it to them. So this is not one more thing, and I think we've had enough of that, and this is the year that we told our teachers. We just need you to do what we're asking. Just breathe.

163Just let them breathe. Follow through. Yeah, that's what we're doing. So we're iReady for our K-2 students. Are they using iReady as well? Say that again? Our K-2 students are using iReady? Yes. And we're still expecting them to use? Up to 30 minutes? Well, 30 to 40 minutes. That depends on what the, yes, that's what the, we don't start kindergarten as soon because we give them breathing space. We have to do the first diagnostic by the end of September because it's required by law. So we have to do the diagnostic three times a year. So we actually would like to push that. We actually tried this past year to push that for eight weeks. What actually I already recommend is that you don't. start the pathway until and do the diagnostic for eight weeks but

164the state requires us to have that data to them by the end of September so we do the diagnostic and then we gradually increase that so that's we give that principle that autonomy so if I had kindergartners I would be looking at that 30 minutes but again we built the intervention time that they don't need so they could have that talk yeah I just but kindergartners really don't have the attention span. And so I would chunk that out with little talks throughout the day. I talked to him regarding the skills. You're right, about 15 minutes is about all you got. And so another question I always give in community all the time is are we still teaching our students cursing? Lewis? I ask you that every time. And you tell me you do. We do.

165I saw it in the standards. I saw it in one of the It is in the standards and we provide handwriting workbooks for all of our, for those grade levels. We buy them. Are they used? Well, I was going to say, there you go. So again, that goes back to, we need to monitor our classrooms and expect it to be used. Parents are saying they're not getting cursive in the classroom. Well. He said something about coming soon. That is something that I didn't want to bring up. But the only standards that magnetic literacy does not cover are the handwriting standards in the state of West Virginia. So we have those couple of standards at the grade levels. They do not cover that. So whenever you see data on magnetic literacy, it covers everything but handwriting.

166But we have Zanier Bloser for handwriting. i'm ready is looking at adding handwriting yet so i'm just they're still building this product that's something that needs to be added so it could be like an add-on later on but right now we have saner bloser that was adopted and we provide this line going to be i'm going to be very transparent and say this board member is not going to approve any i-ready platform that does a digitized um anything with handwriting. I'm going to be very transparent. I want paper and I want pen. I want pencil. I'm very adamant about that. We are losing dexterity with our hands and the ability to cognitively think and process with our brains when we are abandoning the ability to use paper and pencil. We are losing that with our

167kids. I'm going to go on my high horse with that from a psychological and neurological perspective here. If I had a choice, all of these would be falling out of our schools. All of it. If I had a choice, I know, I love you. I know, I know. I'm getting ready to approve some digital stuff for music. But that's a different, that is different. But again, one thing I could do, I mean, it was slightly different. It's slightly different. That's why we can get that handwriting in. And that gives us a look for for next school year. So we could go to these classrooms. We could look for the handwriting and I can talk to the principals about what that looks like at your school to ensure it's being done. I know it's wrapping up.

168I'm glad you're coming. I want to be in your field. Always present. Always there. pages we had to talk about walkthroughs and the principals had to do 10 a week and I'm just wondering because we added more to it the other acronyms you all Should we be looking at reducing the number of walkthroughs? We did that already. We did that. Earlier this year. Let me clarify. So, again, the 10 walkthroughs was a goal. Okay. And we specifically asked. that our executive directors, you know, we have a platform that can see how many walkthroughs are occurring in our schools, whether it be because Mr. Mullinax is in a school when he's doing a walkthrough or it's the principal. The goal is for a principal to do 10 classroom walkthroughs per week, including their assistant principals. So

169if for whatever reason they were only able to get six in because it got busy and there was a challenge that came up. That's fine. You know, the next week, try to get 10. You know, if there's a trend where they're consistently not getting to the goal, then maybe we need to figure out what we can also do to help support them so that they can be visible in the classroom. And many of our schools definitely hit success with that. Some are exceeding 10. But it's always been a goal. Back at the beginning of the fall, at the beginning of the year, we rolled out the fact that we wanted to be able to cover these five high-impact practices, the HIPS, and the walkthrough was to assess by HIPS in the rollout how the implementation

170was going. The major part of that was so that we knew if teachers needed some additional professional development or support on implementing that high-impact practice. And the principals had actually asked us, well, how many should we do? And we really didn't want to define it, but that was when we said, okay, well, we'll shoot for 10. And I am totally open, along with our instructional team, that if principals felt 10 is too much this year, we might need to scale it back a little bit. We can do that. But there still has to be intentionality from an instructional leader to be visible in our classrooms to see what's going on. I continue to believe that... We have to inspect what we expect. And again, it's never to do a gotcha. It's never to do a

171catch. It's to ensure that the expectations of what needs to go on in the classroom are occurring so that if something is going wrong, then we can intervene with support for that classroom. I just want to make sure that in order to get the 10 in, other things are not being overlooked. Absolutely. Yeah. And the other thing I'll share with you this past year is that we also encourage our administrators that, hey, if you're getting to where you weren't able to get some classroom walkthroughs in and you're sitting a Thursday afternoon and you don't know how you're going to do it, let us know. And we'll come out and we'll take on the challenge of. you know, something within the school, whether it's a duty or responsibility or it's answering some, you know, meetings or

172whatever it may be so that you can get into the classroom. And I know that Lewis and Holly, Dr. Woods, they were all part of that this year. So no, not every principal asked, but we definitely made ourselves available. Okay. Well, we're wrapped up on that. Thank you all. tremendous. Next on the agenda is a consent agenda. Can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? I have a question about the consent agenda when we get to it. Okay. There is item number 8.9, the special ed services. I'm just curious as to why that's in the consent agenda versus being a separate item in our action items. I'm going to ask Mr. Dilley to come up. Our executive director of special education services. I can speak to that a little bit too.

173Okay. How about what we do is first, Jess, if you, I'm sorry, Mrs. Manuel, if you could let them, if you can provide an answer as to why it's in the consent agenda, we can always pull it out to discuss, but then also Mr. Dilley can explain what those services are. Why is it in this portion versus in under action? Because typically when we're doing this, this has always been under action items, not under. No, this hasn't. So when we started, I thought it's been under action. This was part of finance and. I believe purchasing a couple. I apologize. Maybe I said the wrong, the 8.9, the special ed services? Yes. Yeah. So this was part of their refocus on ensuring we're following policy 8200. And because these are over $100,000, we've had it on

174consent agenda only a handful of times since they refocused on that. I want to say last year, David, or Mr. Dilley, we started doing it this way. That's correct. Yeah. And it was because prior to that, it was the superintendent taking care of everything. Yeah. So prior to last year, Mrs. Power, these contracts with these providers, because the contract with the providers is for a specific student most of the times, that it was going over the $100,000 threshold the board had to approve. And so. I said I didn't feel like we were following policy in compared with fidelity and so we needed to make sure we put them out. Meaning that we don't want to do the reason is this could be a perfect violation because you can pick out a student if you know

175the students are going to set the facilities so that's why we do not name them by name and that's why it's under the consent agenda. And the amount is over $100,000. We have to service these students. I agree. Let me finish. And we don't want to have a stop to where we are not going to provide service because we haven't approved the purchase order amount. And those services run throughout the summer and throughout the entire year. They're just not school-specific. We can absolutely, if the board would prefer to put it on action, we can do that. Maybe I'm dense and I'm not connecting the dots. I'm going to be, I'll own it. I'm still just not understanding because we're not disclosing the student even under an inaction item. We're not disclosing student. We're not disclosing

176location. It would still be the same. verbiage as what we're doing for consent agenda am i correct you're correct sorry um but consent is just typically things we don't need to discuss and being what they are we don't anticipate discussion on them it's been a recommendation from council that it goes under consent but i think for from where i'm sitting i think it's still for awareness of the fact that We are having to spend a lot of money on that trial that is special ed that is we're going to be covering and this is where I'm going to go 9.1 in support 9.1 where we're going to be having to provide that additional aspect to that area. And I just don't feel like putting it under consent agenda is a great idea. That's my personal

177opinion as a board member. That's my personal opinion that it's not the best idea. But I think it needs to be more out in the open. The reason why we have to do it is because the state doesn't provide us the help and the assistance, and the federal government doesn't provide us the help and the assistance, and this money has to come out of our general budget. Well, we're proving that companies are not... I understand, but this is the money that we have to pay. We have to pay it. Well, we're not... We're approving the companies that we're going to have to pay over $100,000 each. I understand that. And those companies will be on our financial. Correct. Correct. What I'm saying is. That's the reason why it's going to cost us a lot of

178money. Yeah, well, I agree with that. I'm not saying I don't. Mr. Morgan, do you have a question? Or the consent agenda. Oh, not the same way. So what is your pleasure? Well, we need to move on. I want you to decide what you want. I would love to be able to pull this and put this in as an action item. Against the attorney's record? I mean, I just, that's, I mean, I... I'd love to know what the attorneys, why the attorney recommends it that way. I mean. Well, I think that, as Mrs. Manuel was saying, is the attorney is recommending it because it's a service that we have to provide. And so there's not really the ability to have, I mean, we can discuss it more, sure. But because we have to provide the

179service and it's more of a policy 800, that's why it's in the consent. But we can absolutely move that out and talk about it separately from the consent agenda. That is not, I don't think it's a problem at all. And we can definitely do that. Well, we have to do some of the other stuff that we do that's in there. I know. Just figure out what you want. What's your decision? My desire is to pull it and put it in as an action item. Okay. Can I have a second? Also. Okay. All in favor of pulling, I don't know what number it is. 8.9. 8.9 and put it in an action item. Sorry, it's 8.8. 8.8. No, it's 8.9. It's next. On the current live agenda, it's 8.8. Yes. It's the restriction G. So we're

180moving 8.8 to that action item. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Nay. So the motion is to move 8.8 to the action item. And that will go under the last action item. It could be... Well, it'll be 9.10. 9.10. I don't want to forget that. Mr. Martin? I just want to point out a need for correction under 8.4, the extra correctness of the trips. We had a note where it said Musselman and Martinsburg boys basketball teams have been invited to an opportunity over the Christmas break. And on the list of items, Martinsburg basketball is not listed. As well as if you look at the letter from my biggest for the athletic director of Martinsburg, it's not only for the boys, but it's also for

181the girls. So I'd like to just note that we're going to have boys and girls down below where Musselman is going to Orlando, Florida. I think that would be the same place Martinsburg is going to get. You're correct. That was an error on my part. They are, and just for reference, they haven't, I think Davis put in travel tracker, but Mr. Basile didn't. They're just asking for pre-approval before they really start planning. They want to make sure they're allowed to go prior to planning. Yeah, and I believe it's actually all four high schools, I believe I've received requests from, so you'll see all four of them. And they've all indicated that those trips will be 100% on. The schools to provide. Yes. So do I just make it all four schools for the Orlando trip

182or just. No, just the ones that are out there right now because it might have been timing when they put those requests in. Okay. You've heard the motion to move the action item for the consent agenda plan to the action item and we have a second to vote. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Now we're down to action items. Personal actions. Mr. Kataloski. members of the board and superintendent sacks the personal actions days for monday june 1st 2026 are as follows uh tonight we have two coaching appointments and five coaching resignations uh for extra duty assignments we have three appointments of one resignation and one retirement this evening for professional personnel we have 11 professional appointments we have one change of assignments We have 14 professional resignations and we did one correction to

183a previously approved resignation. We also have one employee who has rescinded their retirement and accepted an appointment at the same school that they were at for next school year. And we have 17 transfers for the 26-27 school year. For service personnel, we have one administrative reassignment. We have two changes assignments and one correction to a previously approved change of assignments. We have seven service resignations and one extra duty resignation. We have three retirements. We have 12 transfers of service personnel. We have 11 employees who were removed from the transfer list and assigned a position. We have one employee who was removed from the transfer list and they will remain in their current position. And we also have five service personnel upgrades this evening for your consideration. For substitute service actions, we have four appointments. We

184rescinded one appointment of a substitute service personnel member, and we also have one resignation of substitute service personnel. For substitute teachers, we have six appointments. We rescinded one appointment, and we have one resignation. And also tonight, we have a number of summer school... appointments. We have 163 of those. We also have one summer school leave of absence. And this evening we are issuing three professional probationary contracts for the 26-27 school year, 14 renewal contracts for substitute nurses for the 26-27 school year. We have 261 substitute service probationary contracts for the 26-27 school year. We have 263 renewals of long-term substitute contracts. the 26-27 school year. We have five renewals of short-term restricted substitute teacher contracts for the 26-27 school year. We have 18 renewals of restricted short-term substitute contracts for the 26-27 school year. This

185represents a total of 909 professional service substitutes and summer personnel actions. It's my period of consideration with Superintendent's Access Regulation. Questions from Mr. Panawsky? Yes, just one. What is the facilitator of service personnel staff development? Is that a new position? No. It's been a long time. I don't remember seeing it on here before. If we hired the cook for Inwood. You know if we've done that or not. I don't think we have. They interviewed the person who passed the test so that he would be able to say it. They're still working on that. The reason I bring that up, Mr. Wright, is that that is somewhat of a new position, but it's a combined position for the cook there. Basically, it's like a lead cook for the county. Someone that actually does professional development support

186for other cooks and helps make sure that those... the professional development needs of the Cook population is being met. This was something that in my previous county we had that we wanted to see if we could do something here for a Cook leadership position. They still have the responsibilities of preparing the meals there at Inwood as well. So they'll get a cook and another, there'll be two, but one of them will be a lead cook for the county. What time are you going? Oh, this is, I was trying to think. Is that 10? Yes. No. It was, let's wait at the time. Oh, one cast in. Yeah, 10. Yeah. I had that position when I was working years ago, so it's not new. So do I have a motion to approve personal actions? So moved.

187Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion to carry. Madam President, board members, I would like for Mr. Mullin to sit down here. Cool. Okay. Well, then I'm going to ask for Mrs. Kleppner to introduce our newest principals and assistant principals at the middle school level. And then I'm going to ask Mr. Mullinax to do the same for his elementary school. So, Mrs. Kleppner, can you recognize your new principal? All right. This is Joe Livesey. I've been practicing his last name. He is the incoming principal at North Middle School. Congratulations, sir. Great meeting. It's been very important for me as I get ready looking at this data. I just can't wait to get started. I'm very eager to get started in North Oak because I know it's a stunning place. And I'm not going to

188have the same presence as a 611 man will. But I'm certainly going to try and make up for it in other ways. So very excited. Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, just Ryan. She did not get to come last time. So you come up and I'm going to let you introduce your new assistant principal. Yeah, absolutely. I'm really excited. I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the meeting where Jason got my approval. I didn't have child care for my 18 month old. but I'm very excited. I love muscle men a lot. I'm excited to introduce my two new assistant principals. All right. So I have Chad Spencer and Julie Oldfield. They're going to be working with me this year. I'm really excited to have the dream team go online. Congratulations. Thank you. Very

189excited. Thank you. Thank you all for waiting. I know. I'm not trying to run at all. She graded this one. I'll fill in for Ms. Adams this evening. This is Laura Ryan. She will be the new assistant principal at Hedgesville Middle School. Well, I've already spent most of my career at Haskell Middle School between being a general teacher and a technology and regression specialist, and now a technology and regression specialist. Love you, boss. Apparently not enough. But I'm going home full time, and I'm very excited. We're excited for you. Congratulations. Congrats. And I have Natalie Jones with me. She will be the new assistant principal at Springville's primary school with Mrs. Krause. So we're excited to welcome her. She currently is at AIM. So she has been all over the county. Now she's just going

190to be in one place, and I'm sure she's excited about that. But I have to share one thing about... We've been colleagues for a while because she was, when she moved here from Texas, she was a parent at Eagle School, and her kids went through Eagle School, and she was a great PTO mom. She's worked her way up into the different places in here in Berkeley County. But I had her doing something for me. Remember my themes? And I know you remember that. But she was putting together a column. She probably meant for a prom, but it started to fall. And when it fell, she put her hand up like this, but it made with that mesh stuff. It came down and caught her in the eye. And I was terrible, absolutely terrible. So I

191thought her eye was out, but it didn't happen. She's here with us today and she has forgiven me. And I'm so happy that she's here. Thank you. Mr. Mullinex, you're never allowed to introduce another man. 30 years ago. Congratulations. Now, on to the regular agenda. Action item. I'll see you in a second. And we'll get there. We are to 9.1 authorization of litigation related to lethality paying public school funding. Dr. Schatz. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Tonight, I am bringing forward an action item for the board's consideration that would authorize litigation related to locality pay and broader school funding issues in West Virginia. I believe it's important to explain why this action is being considered this evening. First, This is about meeting the needs of students. Berkeley County Schools serves more than 20,000 students, making us

192one of the largest school districts in West Virginia. Our responsibility is to ensure every student has access to resources, services, and opportunities necessary to be successful both in school and in life. Without adequate and equitable funding, Berkeley County Schools cannot provide the public education promised by the West Virginia Constitution. Berkeley County Schools is bringing this action to protect students' constitutional rights to a public education. Second, this is about the growth in the Eastern Panhandle. Berkeley County continues to experience significant growth and development. With that growth comes increased demand for teachers, support personnel, transportation services, facilities, special education services, and other student supports. While our district has continued to grow, many of the state's funding mechanisms have not evolved at the same pace. Third, this is about recruitment and retention. Berkeley County Schools operates in one

193of the most competitive education labor markets in West Virginia. We compete directly with neighboring school systems in Maryland and Virginia, many of which offer significantly higher salaries and compensation packages. Locality pay has become an increasingly important issue as we work to attract and retain highly qualified teachers, service personnel, and school leaders for our students. Again, if Berkeley County Schools cannot attract and retain qualified personnel, we cannot provide the public education promised by the West Virginia Constitution. Fourth, this is about school funding equity and adequacy. Earlier this year, the West Virginia Legislature commissioned an independent review of the state's school funding formula through the Rand Corporation. The RAND report identified concerns regarding the adequacy, equity, and long-term sustainability of West Virginia's school funding system and raised important questions about whether the current funding formula accurately reflects

194the needs of students and the realities facing school districts today. Many of the issues identified in the RAND report align with challenges that Berkeley County Schools, as well as other school districts, have continued to experience for years. While the legislature commissioned the study and received its findings, no comprehensive changes to the state's funding formula were enacted to address many of the concerns identified by the report. One area of particular concern is special education funding. Federal and state law requires school districts to provide appropriate services and supports to students with disabilities. Those obligations are not optional, nor should they be. However, the actual cost of providing these services significantly exceeds the level of funding currently generated through the state aid formula. In Berkeley County alone, we spent approximately $38 million more on special education services last

195year than the amount provided through state aid. I want to say that again. Our school district spent $38 million more on special education services than what was provided through state aid. Those costs must be absorbed locally and limit resources that could otherwise be invested with additional educational opportunities or salaries for our employees. Finally, this proposed legal action is intended to seek solutions to these funding concerns. This action that the board is considering tonight is not about politics, and it's not about taking resources away from other counties or communities. Rather, it is about advocating for a funding system that more accurately reflects students' needs, recognizing the challenges facing high-growth regions, and supports adequate and equitable public education for all students. The motion before the board would authorize Bailey and Glasser to investigate and initiate litigation concerning

196locality pay, special education funding, and related school funding issues. The goal is to help ensure students in Berkeley County, the Eastern Panhandle, and across West Virginia have equitable access to the educational resources, the services, and the opportunities necessary to provide an adequate and equitable public education. Anything less. The net deprived Berkeley County students on their constitutional right to a public education. I respectfully submit this item for the board's consideration this evening. You heard the superintendent's recommendation and this board, I want to say this right off the bat, this board's been working on this for a year and a half. It's not something new that we just came up with because locality pay didn't pass. But locality pay didn't pass this last time when we thought it was going to go over the finish line, and

197that was enough. We've had it. So this is where we are. As I said, the sportsmen have been working on this a long time. We feel very positive about the direction. So by saying that, can I have a motion? So moved. Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Mr. Superintendent, I have a copy of the rec. decision. Thank you. I looked up in the Constitution the language that you'll be referring to. The equivalent in the West Virginia Constitution is found in Article 3, Section 10. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law and a judgment. of his peers and also section 17 of the courts of this state shall be open and every person for the injury done to him in this person properly or reputation

198shall have really a due course of law and justice shall be administered without sale denial or direct style. Mr. Bailey will have that. But there is an equivalent section in the state constitution. And if he chooses to go to the federal route, that would be the 14th. Thank you, sir. Next on the agenda. I did want to add one other thing. This is part of the reason why sometimes we say we can't say certain things. There's things going on in the background that we can't publicly say. It's also why I sort of hinted at it during the candidate forums. We might have to do that even though I knew it was already in the works. So it's a certain little thing that you don't think a board, the new board is going to find out

199the same thing. Certain things the public is going to think we're not doing, but we just can't say certain things. We've worked hard on this. We've had phone calls with our local legislators. This is... Our local legislators have done a really hard job to try and push this through the legislation, the legislative process. This is definitely not a shot at them by any stretch of the imagination. I know of several that have worked really hard to try and get this. taken care of. We worked even with some of our staff in the central office to really get this taken care of. And I got to tell you, this past legislative season, it is the straw that broke the camel's back. As I said, it was enough. So that's what we owe them. Thank you. I

200want to thank members Murphy, Wright, and Nislong for their advocacy on this throughout the years. I know you guys are being nasty, but it's just the beginning. Thank you for the support that you've given to us. I know you guys are going out, but given to us during this transition time. I look forward to seeing what this means. I'm out, but I'm never out. I don't want to spoil people's lives. next on the agenda is consideration of possible action regarding authorizing the superintendent to take such other action as may be necessary for the purchase and acquisition of the board of certain real estate property dr Thank you, Madam President. Tonight, I'm bringing forward an action item for the Board's consideration regarding the acquisition of the former Kmart property located at 1287 Winchester Avenue. I believe

201it's important to explain why this acquisition is being recommended. First, this action is about delivering on the commitments made to voters through the 2026 bond referendum. As many are aware, the Workforce and Development Center was included as part of the bond package approved by Berkeley County voters in May. Prior to that election, the district negotiated an option to purchase the property. That agreement protected the purchase price while ensuring that the district would not be obligated to purchase the property if the bond referendum had been unsuccessful. Had the bond referendum not passed, Berkeley County Schools would not have been required to purchase the property and would not have forfeited a significant down payment or deposit. The option agreement actually allowed us the responsibility for the ability and to provide us the responsibility to preserve the opportunity

202while voters considered the bond proposal in its totality. The voters approved the bond referendum, and with that approval comes a responsibility to move forward with the projects that were presented to the community. I also want to emphasize that purchasing the property and sequencing bond construction projects are two separate decisions. Approval of this purchase secures the site and preserves the opportunity approved by the voters, but it does not determine which bond projects will be designated or constructed first. The district is currently developing a comprehensive implementation plan for all bond projects, and those recommendations will be brought before the board in the coming months. As I have shared publicly, projects that address significant enrollment growth and long-standing facility needs, including the new Hedgesville Middle School and projects that replace modular classrooms, remain among the district's highest priorities.

203However, because this property is currently under an option agreement, time is of the essence. Securing the property now preserves the opportunity approved by the voters while maintaining the board's flexibility regarding the sequencing of future bond projects. Second, this acquisition is about expanding opportunities for students. The Workforce and Development Center will allow Berkeley County schools to significantly expand career technical education programming and create new pathways that prepare students for college, careers, industry certifications, apprenticeships, and high-demand occupations. For many students, this facility will provide opportunities to earn industry credentials, gain hands-on experience, and connect directly with employers before graduation. This project represents a major investment in workforce development and the future success of all Berkeley County students. Third, this acquisition supports an exciting partnership opportunity with West Virginia University Hospitals. As outlined in a separate action item,

204As outlined in a separate action item later this evening, the Board will also be considering a lease agreement with WVU Hospitals to establish the West Virginia University School of Nursing within the Workforce Development Center. This partnership creates unique opportunities for students, strengthens healthcare workforce development in our region, and helps address one of the most critical workforce shortages facing our community. It is also a financially beneficial partnership for Berkeley County Schools and to our taxpayers. Under the proposed agreement, WVU Hospitals will be responsible for the complete build-out of the nursing school space within the facility at WVU Hospital's expense. Based on current construction costs and health care facility standards, that partner-funded investment is estimated to be valued at nearly $5 million. In addition, West Virginia University Hospitals is committed to providing annual sponsorship support for career

205and technical education programming at the Workforce and Development Center. Over the initial 10-year term of the agreement, that commitment is valued at $1.5 million. Taken together, this partnership represents a substantial investment in students, workforce development, and the future success of the Eastern Panhandle. It reflects the broader vision of the Workforce and Development Center, a place where K-12 education, higher education, health care, and industry partners can work together to create awesome opportunities for students while supporting the economic future of our region. Finally, I recognize that questions have been raised regarding the proposed purchase price. The administration has conducted due diligence before entering into the option agreement. The property consists of approximately 10 acres in the highly visible commercial corridor and includes approximately 120,000 square feet of existing building space. Berkeley County assessment records show the property

206has historically been valued and sold in the $6 million range for decades, including sales of approximately $6 million in both 1997 and 2005. The property remains assessed at approximately $5.9 million today. despite years of vacancy and underutilization. While no valuation method can be perfect, the administration believes the negotiated purchase price represents a reasonable value given the property's size, its location, infrastructure, redevelopment potential, and strategic importance to the long-term goals approved by Berkeley County voters. The action before the board authorizes the superintendent to execute the purchase option and complete all necessary actions associated with acquiring the property. Approval of this item will allow the district to secure the property, begin the planning and design process, coordinate with our community partners, and continue delivering on a commitment approved by Berkeley County voters through the 2026 bond referendum.

207I respectfully submit this item for the board's consideration. Questions for the superintendent for his recommendation? Questions? All in favor of purchasing of the motion? So moved. Second. Second. All in favor of purchasing the Amar facility at 487 Winchester Avenue, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Dr. Saenz. Thank you, Madam President. Next. Next on the agenda is 9.3, discussion of possible action on a WVU Medicine Berkeley lease agreement and sponsorship agreement. Thank you, Madam President. I'm bringing forward several agreements for the board's consideration that collectively establishes the WVU Medicine Center for Nursing Education within the Workforce Development Center approved by Burbank County voters. I believe it's important to explain why this partnership is so significant for our students, our community, and our taxpayers. First, this partnership established with the WVU Medicine Center for Nursing

208within the Workforce Development Center. The School of Nursing will provide nursing education and workforce training opportunities while creating a unique environment where K-12 education, post-secondary education, and healthcare workforce development can operate side by side. This partnership aligns directly with our vision for the Workforce and Development Center by connecting students to high-demand careers and creating opportunities for them to explore healthcare pathways before graduation. Second, this partnership brings significant private investment into a voter-approved public education project. Under the lease agreement being considered this evening, WVU Medicine will lease approximately 15,000 square feet within the facility, and it will be responsible for the complete build-out of that space at WVU Medicine's expense. As noted earlier, based upon current construction costs for health care and educational facilities, that investment is estimated to be valued at nearly $5 billion. I

209think it's important to point out that if the lease ends and they choose to go somewhere else, we retain all of those facility improvements for a health care education facility. Importantly, those build-out costs that I just mentioned are not borne by Berkeley County Schools or local taxpayers. Instead, this partnership allows the district to leverage outside investment while enhancing the overall quality and functionality of the center. Third, WVU Medicine is committed to providing an annual sponsorship of $150,000 to support career and technical education programming and the student opportunities within the facility. Over the initial 10-year term of the agreement, that commitment represents approximately $1.5 million in direct support for Berkeley County students and workforce development initiatives. I have just a question. Yes, sir. Maybe I'll miss it. I'm sure we'll keep on. Will they be providing

210the instructors? This is their program. They handle everything. So they're going to have their own administration within this space, their own instructors, and it's for students who have already graduated high school. It will be there. We will have Berkeley County Schools programming side by side in our spaces, but there will be a collegial partnership between the two institutions so that students have a pathway into this program. They're not guaranteed to go into the program because they have to apply and go through that process, but it is absolutely a pathway. Other questions? You've heard a superintendent's recommendation for a motion to approve the lease agreement with an inclusive first right of refusal and sponsorship agreement with the WVU Medicine Berkeley. So moved. Second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Next on the agenda is

2119.4, consideration of possible action regarding authorization for the superintendent to purchase and or acquisition of the approved property. Thank you, Madam President. I'm bringing forward an action item for the board's consideration regarding the acquisition of approximately 2.34 acres located at 8977 Williamsport Pike, adjacent to the Falling Waters Elementary School site. I believe it is first important to explain why this acquisition is being recommended. First, this is not simply a real estate transaction. This is a long-term, operational, transportational infrastructure and site planning decision connected to the future needs of the Falling Waters Elementary School and to Berkeley County Schools. One of the most significant benefits of acquiring the property is the potential for substantial infrastructure savings. Under the district's current site plan, a sanitary lift station would remain in its presently planned location at an estimated

212cost of approximately $190,000. By acquiring the adjoining property, the district could relocate that infrastructure to a more favorable location and reduce the estimated cost to approximately $90,000, creating potential savings of approximately $100,000 for the sanitary lift station. Second, this property creates meaningful transportation efficiencies. The site provides the opportunity to establish a transportation hub capable of accommodating approximately 40 school buses serving the northern portion of Berkeley County. As our district continues to grow, strategically locating transportation assets becomes increasingly important. This approach can improve operational efficiency. support routing flexibility, reduce unnecessary travel, and better position the district to serve students in one of the fastest-growing areas of the county. In addition, if the district were required to construct additional bus parking solely on its existing school property, which is there at the Falling Waters site, it is

213estimated to approach $1 million. By utilizing the adjoining property, those improvements could potentially be completed. for about $490,000, resulting in an estimated savings of approximately $500,000. Taken together, the infrastructure and transportation benefits associated with this property could generate approximately $600,000 in potential savings while improving the overall functionality of the campus and transportation system. Third, the acquisition provides opportunity opportunities for us to enhance the Falling Waters Elementary School campus. The property creates additional flexibility for site design, traffic flow improvements, civil engineering solutions, and beautification of the school's entrance. Rather than simply creating additional bus parking, this acquisition allows the district to think more strategically about the overall appearance, the functionality, and the long-term development of the Falling Waters campus. Finally, ownership of the property provides an important layer of long-term protection for the school environment. Acquiring

214the property now gives us, the district, greater control over the immediate surroundings of the campus and helps ensure the future development adjacent to the school is compatible with the educational environment we seek to provide for our students and our families. While there's an additional upfront acquisition cost, Our staff believe the property provides immediate operational advantages, meaningful infrastructure savings, improved transportation efficiency, enhanced campus functionality, and long-term strategic value to the district. The action before the board authorizes me, the superintendent, to complete the acquisition of the property located at 8977 Williamsport Pike. Approval of this item will allow the district to move forward with infrastructure planning. transportation improvements campus enhancement efforts and long-term operational planning associated associated with falling waters elementary school i respectfully submit this item for the board's consideration in part of superintendent's recommendation to

215purchase the route property at eight nine seven seven williams sports price hike um gonna have a motion so second questions concerns All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Next is 9.5, discussion of possible action on the Berkeley County file JCA, student civil engagement, civil literacy, and responsible participation. Participation. That too. Thank you, Madam Board Members. Madam President and Board Members, I'm bringing Board Policy JCA Student Civic Engagement before the Board's consideration. As the Board is aware, the policy was submitted by a member of the Board for consideration and subsequently underwent legal review prior to being released for public comment. The policy was available for public review and comment from May 5th through May 19th, 2026. No public comments were received during the review period. The policy before the board this evening is being presented in

216substantially the same form in which it was submitted and reviewed. While staff is not recommending substantial policy changes beyond the discussed this evening, there are two technical considerations that we believe warrant the board's attention should the board choose to move forward with this adoption. First, staff recommend removing lines 155 through 162 of the proposed policy. The content contained within those provisions is already addressed within policy JGG. Maintaining similar language across multiple policies creates the potential for future inconsistencies or conflict if one policy is amended without corresponding revisions to the other. Removing those provisions would establish a clearer policy structure by maintaining a single governing policy for that topic area. Second, staff have identified concerns regarding the language contained in lines 133 through 136. While we understand the intent of the provision, the current wording could

217be interpreted in a manner that creates ambiguity regarding staff response to student behavior and expectations. Staff believe additional clarification may be beneficial to ensure the policy remains focused on student civic engagement, civic literacy, and instructional expectations, while avoiding language that could be interpreted inconsistently during implementation. Ultimately, this decision regarding adoption of the policy, including any amendments, rests with the Board. Staff simply offer these considerations to assist the Board in its deliberations and to promote consistency within the District's policy framework. I respectfully submit Policy JJCA for the Board's consideration. In part of Superintendent's recommendations to remove lines 133 to 137 and 155 to 160. 6 or 62? 133 through 136 and 155 through 162. I had a question. So the reasoning for 133 to 136 was what again? For removal? The reason that staff thought it

218might need to be removed? You said? May not punish students. You mentioned it in your. Yes, I did. So that line, which states may not punish students for participation in a protest or civic event other than what is clearly outlined in policy JGG, Student Code of Conduct. The administration will not tolerate retaliatory punishment aimed to quell student-led civic engagement. You need to think about that for a second. Sorry. And then let me make sure I think I want to make sure I understand what the other one was too. Yeah, I understand the other one. That's the... I just want to make sure I'm not mixing up the two. Okay, sure. So... I thought it was because we were out wanting to punish them that there couldn't be any punishment or any kind of... No, it's

219basically, maybe it's the way it's worded, but basically it's to prevent what happened before where teachers were saying, if you do this, I'm going to do this to you, which was not according to the discipline policy. It was just, I don't like what you're protesting about, so I'm going to... punish you somehow. Right. No, I understand. I think maybe the concern was, and I, and that this portion of the policy, I think when, when it was reviewed, the concern was, is that we definitely don't want someone punishing a student for something that was to happen. Let's say some sort of protest or civic event that was outside of school. Right. But if it was during the school, during the school time, then we, But I guess since it's the online policy, JGG, then it would

220be... I'll put that there. Because as long as it's going by our discipline policy, that's fine. It's just not, oh, well, he's protesting against the police. And I love my husband's a police officer. So now you're going to be suspended or I'm going to give you extra work or whatever I'm going to do to make sure that I'm going to punish you for that. Because that's what happened. We had a student come and say... that some of the staff were saying, hey, if you do this, we're going to do this to you. And if they're going to... You mean like they said they were going to spend it? Or there's going to be some discipline that's not according to our discipline policy. They were going to do something outside of that. And so that's why

221I put the line about going by the policy. Like if you skip, if you don't do what the policy says, okay, you get punished just like anybody else would, but not... using it as a retaliatory thing against our students. I do recognize also that policy JGG does not have a specific, in that discipline matrix, there is not a specific concrete action for a student protest. You understand what I'm saying? So that may have been the rationale, was that JGG is not yet updated to reflect that type of situation. But I understand what you're saying. Well, I understand it might be a little confusing as to why I would recommend it, but I think it was in that vein. Yeah, I think JGG outlines it in terms of because it could be, if it's during certain

222school times, you'd be skipping a class. So, okay, you're skipping. Leading school property, up. If it was before school, you're not getting this, but if it's after school, you're not getting this, but if it's at lunch, then you come back during lunch. So it would be the same as any other student that would do anything outside of the realm. So that's how, no matter what protest you do, it still wouldn't fall. if you violate the policy or skipping or anything. Whether you're protesting or you left to go to Burger King. I think there still needs to be some clear language in the Student Code of Conduct. But it's less of some of this more specifically, which we don't have outlined here. I didn't want to get too specific because I thought generally that... what the

223students do. Like I said, if you're skipping, you're skipping no matter what you're doing. If you're tardy, if you're whatever you're doing, it's just something that's going to the discipline matrix is going to catch you somewhere. There's another concern that I have when we're done debating that. Line 56 and 57. So section 4.2. where Berkeley County Schools should encourage student civic engagement by providing opportunities for students to engage in community service and volunteer initiative in communities. On the surface, it doesn't look horrible. I think it looks good. But also in the same vein, Berkeley County Schools is supposed to also remain neutral. And unfortunately, this is where I get into a little bit of definition, because what might be considered beneficial to local communities or what I might consider to be beneficial to a local

224community might not be considered to someone else as beneficial to a local community. And I am hesitant about this because of the environment that we're currently in. I love the idea of our kids getting to have civic engagement and I love the fact that we should have neutrality. I love that. I just, I'm hesitant in the sense of where could there be little foxes, for lack of a better way of saying this, that could come in to undermine the intentionality behind this. I guess it would depend on say for instance, if a teacher has a community service thing, more than likely that's outside of school, more than likely they're going to have to get parent permission to do certain things. But then you're still inviting the student to do that during school time. No, no,

225no. What I'm saying is like if there's a, I'm not sure where you're talking, I'm saying say it's a field trip or something. I don't know where you're... I don't know what scenario you're thinking of. The worst scenario that goes through my head. Okay. That's scary. Go ahead, Ms. Powell. Thanks a lot. Okay. The worst scenario is... Okay, so the worst scenario that goes through my head is one of the worst and darkest periods of our history, where there's still a group of individuals who think there should be segregation in our world. Okay? And they think it would be a community benefit that that still occurs. I don't see that. This is where, again, I understand what you're saying. I'm saying that we've got to be very, very careful about the language that we're doing

226here. That's all I'm saying. Remove that second one. Engage in community service. Strike that line. I think I would be a little bit more comfortable with that. Yes. It's not that I want to discourage someone from doing it. I'm just saying we've just got to be very, very careful. I'm just because I would love our kids to do it. I just, I can't say that every single person in our community has the best intentions at heart. I just. I can say that. And I just, and knowing the climate that we've been in and the direction I can see the division. Especially in the last few months I've seen division. This climate's been in for many years. No, I know. Give her enough to do. That's fine. I understand. I'm cautious. I'm just cautious. I just,

227when you take out the fact that you don't want our kids to engage in community service. No, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. That's not what I'm talking about. She doesn't want. I think we can adjust it. I think we can encourage our kids to engage in community service and volunteer initiatives. But I think we can take out that last sentence that benefit local communities. I think that last piece probably could take... I just, I don't know. Where her mind's blown. I just, we need to be very careful. The more wordy we get, the more we can potentially twist things. It's not a major thing to me. That's where my brain goes. So are you, so do you want? She wants to get rid of that benefit level communities part. Okay. So anybody else

228have a suggestion? because what I think benefits local communities might not be what Mr. Miller considers benefiting local communities and I just... That's fine. Well when you have students, when students do community service there's tons of tons of things that they do that we don't think of so um so the um the um The recommendation is to take out that benefit local community. Yes, ma'am. Correct. Anybody else? I've been a student of the 60s and haven't gotten into a lot of trouble. I like the polls. One concern I had is... Well, I'll pose the question here. On page two of the policy line 88, nonpartisan in nature. I just have to ask. I thought the ICE demonstrations were partisan in nature, not Democrat-Republican so much as against or for what was going on. And I

229just worry. I'm not familiar with what the students' rights are under Supreme Court decisions. And I just saw that. I thought, oh, boy, I'd be in trouble there because I would be partisan. But I think the recommendations that you're willing to accept are just fine. puts other policies in conflict, we want to clarify that. This is a very, it could be a very contentious policy. I was looking at the lines that the staff has recommended. I thought, this is the 60s. bring it on. But I think staff is, we're going to see, for example, on line number 36, 132 to 36, how often may student-led civic engagements occur? I mean, this could become a daily event. And, you know, I mean, that's my fear. Yeah, you can watch the news every night and have your

230event the next day. And I just I think it's a good idea to remove lots 132 and 136. 132 to 136? Yeah, that's what he recommended. Yeah, 133 to 136. Yeah, mine was 133. Yeah, 133, that pair, beginning with may not punish. So you want to remove that? Yes. That's what staff recommended, and I just thought, you know, creative little minds can come up with worthwhile events. And they'll get punished for it. I mean, they'll get punished if they... If they go against the... I'm just saying that the frequency is not controlled here. You can't control the frequency. Oh, no. Because if a student does it every day, well, then that adds up, and then you're getting in school, out of school system, et cetera, et cetera. You're going to be crossing a line there

231while you're crossing the student's right to free speech. No, no. They have the right to free speech, but the thing is if they're going against the discipline policy. If the students are smart, you do it at lunch every day. You do it before school. You do it after school. Hey, when that bell rings, okay, everybody go inside and you don't get in trouble. You do it every single day if you wanted at lunchtime. Then you would not get in any trouble. But if you do it during the 6th and 7th period, yeah, you're going to get disciplined. I just don't think the student code conduct is specific enough. When we get into all of this. I don't know. When I wrote this, I looked at the go-to-conduct in all the different areas. You know, that

232a student can write a file of a student go-to-conduct in terms of getting in trouble. And it covered almost everything I could think of, like part of the missing classes and things like that. There's a... way that they get this point for it. But the positive things you have in your policy are not undermined by these two minutes. Yeah. Okay. They can still, what I don't want is I don't want the staff to be retaliatory towards our students and then stop their right, their first amendment rights to protest if they feel the need to. As long as they do it and don't violate the discipline policy. I mean, they could be protesting that they don't have enough soda in the school. I mean, the soda dispensers don't work properly. I mean, I can see this.

233There you go. There's their protest. I mean, I can't see anything going under this policy. They could do that now. They still would get discipline for it. Well, they could do it during lunch. And this would. cover that and maybe just about and they should be able to. So the recommendation is to remove the last to remove that benefit local communities from line 56 and 57 remove lines 133 and 136 and lines 155 to 162. What's your pleasure? We rolled this around so. I'm going to separate the three changes. My recommendation is to approve it with the change to line to remove 155 to 162 and the last part of 56 and 57 that benefit the communities and leave everything else the same. You heard Mr. Wright's recommendation. And you heard the superintendent's recommendation. So

234we're going to have to sort this out. And also, the attorney said there's no problem for me. I said that. She's not here to comment on this. Did we not answer your one? Okay, so you're moving for the two. Okay, so we decide for that one, and then we decide on the third one. So the recommendation is to remove from line 56 and 57 that benefit local communities, and Dr. Sachs' recommendation was to recommend to remove line 133 and one to one. No, 155 to 162. He also said, recommend we move line 133 to 136 and lines 155 to 162. So now I'm saying you don't want to remove lines 133. That's what he's saying. So his motion is to just do the two. Just to do the two. Okay. So you've heard Mr. Wright's

235motion. Do I have a second for that? I'll second Mr. Wright's motion. All in favor? Madam President, I'm sorry. I do apologize. I just want to make sure that there's a little bit of certification. And maybe I heard wrong, but I think there was something said about lunch. But lunch is during the instructional day. Yeah. Okay. I just want to make sure that for everybody listening, I just want to clarify. I was thinking of a nine. I was thinking of a nine for the last three times. There is not. That's the problem. From the time that the bell rings in the beginning of the day to the time that it ends, that is the instructional day. That's what I think we're getting into with this policy. If we don't limit some of what's in here.

236The new board might have to revise it. We're making something that's going to be difficult at times for staff and the schools to negotiate. Staff has already overstepped their bounds. Not all staff. Not some staff have. Are we making this? You heard Mr. Wright's recommendation and you have a second. So what's your pleasure? I'm waiting on a vote. I'm waiting on a vote. We're waiting on a vote. I'm all in favor. Aye. Opposed? Nay. Motion fails. Okay. Now we're going to approve a stamp recommendation. Oh, you mean all three? Yeah. I'll just say nay. I'll say aye. You'll need a motion. I move that the staff recommendation for the three amendments be adopted. Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? I'll tell the student that we failed. Because I work on this with

237the students to try to get this passed. No, no, well you've partially been. No, this is not. No, this is not because now what this allows is exactly what the student didn't want, which is staff to retaliate against our students. That's what I was trying to say. Well, if they follow the student code of conduct, that policy, they won't be retaliating against our students. Yeah, they will. But even if you follow that, if a student is protesting against something a staff member does not like, now they will retaliate against them. Well, you heard the motion and the motion carried. So we're good. We're moving on. Discussion of possible action on music and theater instructional materials. Mr. Miller and... I'll say it. They're my wingmen. If you do that, until now, I'm not going to be

238able to close it. Tonight, I'm bringing forward a recommendation for the adoption of instructional materials for music and theater programs across Parkland County Schools. As the board may recall, these materials were originally part of the broader fine arts and wellness instructional materials adoption that was presented earlier this year. Following board discussion and questions regarding the music and theater resources, those materials were separated to allow for additional review and focus consideration. First, it's important to note that these recommendations were developed through a teacher-led selection process. Music and theater educators from across the district participated in reviewing, evaluating, and recommending materials that they believe best support instruction in student learning. These are the educators who work with our students every day. and the feedback played a significant role in the final recommendation being presented this evening. Second,

239this recommendation reflects the additional review requested by the board, staffed by the further information regarding the materials, the selection process, as well as the rationale. And so this action does allow the board to consider the music and theater resources independently while maintaining continuity with the original adoption process. The Recommendation Materials Support a Conference of K-12 Fine Arts Program. The resources are designed to provide age-appropriate instruction, support skill progression across grade levels, and enhance opportunities for student creativity, performance, as well as artistic growth. The recommended resources include Quaver Music for elementary music instruction, Music First Creativity Ensemble for middle school music, Music First Performance Ensemble for high school music, and Digital Theater Plus for high school theater instruction. Finally, the materials were made available for public review and comment following their separation from the broader adoption

240cycle, and no public comments were received. The action before the board authorized the adoption of the recommended instructional materials for music and theater programs. Staff believe these resources reflect the preferences of our educators, align with the instructional needs, and they also support high-quality fine arts instruction for students across Berkeley County Schools. I also want to point out that this is an annual cost for those pieces of equipment that, or pieces of instructional materials that were highlighted as One year only then what happens is, is if the board approves this recommendation this evening, then our instruction and leadership team, our leadership will prioritize and make sure that that instructional purchases is in the budget for the years of the cycle of implementation of this adoption. You heard superintendent's recommendation. This was brought to us before on

241table because there were some questions and I think both these gentlemen answered our questions in email, but Mr. Murphy, you have a question. Yes. Under theater, I have my sheet here for one of the slides. Who's the theater person? I'll go in. It says digital theater, grades 9 to 12, $11,880. So that's five or six years annual cost. It says digital license for each teacher. We have four teachers. Is that $44,000, $45,000? That I couldn't speak to. I don't know what the cost is. It was $29,000. $29,070 per teacher. Okay, that was one of my questions. The other is, and it's not related to the airport, and I was concerned. As a board member, we have to know the total cost when we're voting on something. It's not a negative comment on the stuff, but

242I don't want to have the next board's line cited because you've got a $200,000 thing and we thought we were voting on $43,000. I will point out, I was at one of the art shows, and I think that in the future, we should look at what we're giving. We're giving a one-time $8 per pupil allocation, which is generous, but we're also telling our... high school teachers, you have as much as what an elementary teacher has, $3 per student. And you just can't... That's not much. That's not enough for consumables. And I just think... Well, they do have more student funds. They do have more students. They do have more students, but the needs for those new students, I saw this art show and it was bare bones material. A lot of creative art on the

243paper and things, but you could tell that they're either scavenging things out of the garbage to use for art supplies or stuff like that. Just in the future, I think you ought to give more money to the consumers. And the other thing is, is the theater people still have to pay for that royalty to put on a show. And that's a pretty steep thing. I know. I can tell you, my dad was an art teacher, and I'm from a different county, same state. but got very little funding in the classroom because it just is not, it's not there for the arts. And I can tell you any, anytime we would be able to provide that a little bit extra to the arts, I would advocate for. I was going to speak to that, Mr. Purdy.

244So part of the adoption committee for art, they actually did look at some other items that they could have got, but the feedback was they actually wanted to hire a lot. So instead of getting like a bulk or resource, because... that content is more creative to address those standards. They actually had asked, what if we got a higher allotment? So they get their standard allotment allocation. I know Brian has those numbers for me that we always budget for. But in this case, for next year, that's why there's that higher portion. You're talking about $80? Yeah, but that's a one-time allocation. eight dollars. They'll be going back to three dollars thereafter. And I was just, I missed that point the last time. I was concerned, and I apologize. I want to know what we're paying for

245when we're doing something. And the way it was with the asterisks there, it was a lot more than what we were. with the numbers that are on the paycheck. Well, when you explained it, both of you, and they did explain it actually in our conference when you were presenting, what they actually get that, versus what they have to pay for copyright, what you get for that, those dollars that you can use over and over, and, well, you explained it better than I can, that you can, many of your students can... you have another way, another online that they normally wouldn't be able to utilize. Yeah, for Digital Theater Plus, one of the big things that we're paying for is the copyright because they have 800 performances that we would have access to. As of right

246now, I'm paying somewhere in the ballpark of $300 annually or more out of my own pocket to cover. showing my kids plays because we can't, I can't shove them on a bus every morning and take them to DC to see a play in New York to see a play. We don't have the money for that. We don't have any money really. But the big difference, we had a textbook that got adopted almost 20 years ago now. And when you look through it, it talks about the acting techniques that actors are doing and it shows you a picture of them. rather than an actual performance. And so there's no reference point to the kid because they're not experiencing that theater. Well, I think this is well, well, well worth of... And for the music, for general

247music, there's over like a thousand lessons of how I can incorporate with other things. And then there's like 12 different programs from 12 different companies. So like a lot of them... a lot of the companies first. So there's just 12 different companies of 12 different things. So it wasn't like, this isn't like music first vision of music. It's like, you get cyber factory, which is amazing and all sorts of things like that. Well, will there be an update? You know, like, I don't know how long this cycle will be, six years, five years. But will there be updates? You know, like. Within the software, it won't be the same thing. Yeah, they keep updating. That's an advantage. It is an advantage. So for hours, if any band or buyer has a specific warm-up or curriculum,

248you actually can call Music First, and they'll work on it in the summer. One of the big things they worked on last summer was to actually be able to incorporate it with Schoology. So before it didn't actually link to Schoology. So, and they update, I think they said they update 20 or 30 different resources every year. So there's, there's tons of resources and materials that they keep. Dr. Saxon and I are in the country, rest from music while we move the grants. But that's, that's an advantage because music five years old is. It's always the goodie. Thank you. I'll move the adoption of the textbook series. Second. No, wait until Mr. Powell comes back. Mr. Pratt, I have a chance. What did you say? She said no. Now you're going to have to sing that

249song. Well, she said no. If we were on recess, then I would. I like the song about the guy who's been always watching traffic jams in his pickup truck. I'm waving an ass at him. That's a long way. You always go. All right. Next on the agenda is discussion of possible action on renewal of the Curriculum Associates instructional and assessment services and continued evaluation of the K-5 literacy information for the 2026-27 school year. Dr. Sack. Thank you, Madam President. I am bringing forward a recommendation to renew several Curriculum Associates instructional resources serving students in kindergarten through fifth grade. including i-Ready classroom mathematics, magnetic literacy, the i-Ready diagnostic, and i-Ready personalized instruction. I believe it's important to explain what is being renewed, how the implementation has evolved, and why staff is recommending continuation of these resources.

250First, this recommendation includes the continuation of I-Ready Classroom Mathematics, which serves as the district's core K-5 mathematics resource. These materials provide standards-aligned instruction, assessment, and teacher support that are used daily in our elementary classrooms. Second, this recommendation continues the district's implementation of magnetic literacy as our core K-5 literacy resource. As the board reviewed earlier this evening, the district previously utilized scholastic literacy. Teacher feedback consistently indicated that the resource did not fully align with the science of reading and did not adequately address all components necessary to develop proficient readers. As a result, teachers increasingly relied upon supplemental resources such as YouthLie and Hegarty to address those gaps. Throughout the first year of implementation, we gathered extensive feedback from teachers, administrators, students, and families regarding magnetic literacy. focus groups identified strengths, challenges, and opportunities for improvement. Teachers

251generally viewed the curriculum as comprehensive and appreciated the increased emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary, writing, and student engagement. I also want to emphasize that magnetic literacy is not intended to replace effective literacy practices already occurring in our classrooms. Based upon educator feedback, we have worked to ensure continued flexibility for teachers to utilize resources such as UFLY and Hagerty while implementing the magnetic literacy as the district's core literacy framework. In fact, one of the recommendations moving forward is that schools and classrooms may continue using YouthLine Hagerty in place of portions of the foundational literacy skill component when appropriate. Third, this recommendation includes the continuation of the already diagnostic and personalized instruction components. The diagnostic assessment serves an important instructional purpose for helping our teachers identify student needs, monitor growth, and target interventions. It is also important to

252note that West Virginia law requires literacy screening and diagnostic assessments for students in kindergarten through third grade, making these tools an important component of our literacy system. One of the most common concerns raised during implementation involved the amount of time students were spending in the personalized instruction pathway. Based upon teacher feedback, staff is recommending a reduction in expected personalized instruction time from approximately 45 minutes per week to 30 to 40 minutes per week in both reading and mathematics. This recommendation aligns directly with the feedback provided by our teacher focus groups. This adjustment reflects a fundamental belief of our instructional team. Technology should support instruction, not drive instruction. Teacher-led instruction, small group learning, targeted intervention, and direct engagement with students remains the foundation of effective classroom practice. More broadly, I want to emphasize that we are

253not renewing these resources exactly as they were implemented during year one. We are renewing them with refinements based upon the feedback we received from educators, students, administrators, and our families. We have worked closely with curriculum associates to address implementation concerns, improve pacing, correct identified issues, expand instructional supports, and provide additional flexibility for teachers. Curriculum associates has already begun implementing many of those improvements and is committed to additional enhancements for the coming school year. Finally, I believe it's important to connect this discussion to the student outcome data presented earlier this evening. The Board reviewed year-over-year assessment results showing improvement in both English language arts and mathematics, including gains on the West Virginia General Summit of Assessment and improvements reflected in our IRA diagnostic data. While no single program can take sole credit for these outcomes, the

254results provide encouraging evidence that the instructional systems, the curriculum resources, the interventions, and the support we have put in place are helping move student achievement in a positive direction. The question before us is not whether implementation was perfect during year one. It was not. The question is whether we listened to feedback, made meaningful adjustments, and are beginning to see evidence of progress. And our staff and our team believe the answer is yes. The action before the board authorizes the renewal of these K-5 instructional resources. Our staff believe this recommendation reflects educator feedback, supports student achievement, and provides a stronger and more balanced instructional model moving forward. Madam President, Board Members, I respectfully submit this item for the Board's consideration. Move on to Superintendent's Recommendation. Do you have questions? Mr. Murphy? Yes. I've been reading the

255frequently asked questions with iReddit. And I have here, it says, and you're talking about going down to 30 minutes. My question is, we have reading and math. Do we do two reading lessons a week or one reading lesson a week? So, I'm going to ask Mr. Mullinex to just correct me if I'm wrong. Okay. So what we encourage is we encourage students to be able to hit a certain number of minutes per week and two lessons with 80% proficiency. Is that correct? Am I saying anything incorrectly there? That's what our goal is as an accountant. 70% proficient is passing without an A. Yeah. Well, my... Concern is I'm trying to establish, do we have two reading lessons per week and two math lessons per week? Or do we have one reading lesson and one math

256lesson? At the primary level, we know that their attention spans are smaller. So lessons are usually about seven minutes. So a kid can complete a lesson in seven minutes. So about halfway through the lesson, it'll say where that kid is at. If they don't spend at least half of that time and get to that point, it'll restart them because it's got to be fresh in their minds. But at the K-2 level, they're about seven minutes. When you get up into the 3-5, they're about 20-minute lessons. So it will stop so the kids get to a certain level. It will pick back up where it left off. We do find that they need to be about halfway through the lesson. So you need to give them a little bit of time together, one setting, to get

257through that. But truly what Dr. Sacks said is right. We focus on the minutes. And then we also look at the kids' pass rate and how many lessons they did get complete. So we do like that the kids, we've used two lessons in the past. One thing I already recommend is that you don't. you don't push the lessons as much as the minutes. And the reason why I'm doing this is because you don't want to have a kid, just because I might be a little slower, that you don't want to hold that against me. This is about individual pathway. I'll get there when I get there. So, but you track that as a teacher as you go along. Well, in the pre-go-to-ask question, screen time and learning, question number, I mean, page one, I guess,

258or whatever it is. It says students should spend about 30 to 49 minutes per subject per week in active lesson time. And I'm just trying to find out, are we trying to use the old song from the 60s, the double dose of my baby's time or whatever it was. Are we giving a double dose here when they already only recommends that you do one lesson a week? 30 to 45 minutes. Teachers were just telling me, we're having to do twice as much than what the I'm Ready consultants suggest we do. It's based on the minutes. And again, you're going to get, kids are going to be more less than self-assured in their work, that they can get through more lessons. But they have a recommended time. And usually it's about seven minutes, like I told

259you. So kids at the primary level, that's why, you know. If you do three lessons, I mean, you're really truly looking at like 21 minutes. A kid might even be able to get through four lessons. So a teacher can get a printout. It's not really one lesson. There's no way. No lesson in I-Ready should take you longer than 20 minutes. Well, I'm just saying we're not doubling up on our teachers. That is not the goal. So I think that our focus is to try to hit the time. We have put the structures in place to say that you should be able to accomplish two lessons within that 45 minutes, which is what we've done this year, right? That because we're reducing it to 30 to 40, it may mean that you can only finish one

260lesson. And that's okay. I'll vote for this if I just know that we're doing what the consultant says. One lesson. Where are you at? What page is that? I don't know what he's talking about. What are you looking at? I'll give you my book. Where'd you get that? We don't have it. Well, you probably do. That's your advantage. Does that mean one subject, like reading or math? Does that mean one subject, like reading for 30 to 40 minutes and then math? It's just per subject. So are you saying that they're saying one lesson? What do you think it says, one lesson? It's just per subject. But that could be more than one lesson. But it's like, so you're getting 30 to 49 minutes for math and 30 to 49 per ELA, but... It doesn't really

261dictate how many lessons you have to pass. So the short answer is no, we are, to answer your question, we are not doubling up. We are working within the confines of what the guidance is. And that's where even the 45 minutes was emphasized because it was still within those confines. But because of the feedback we've had from our staff, we recognize that we can still meet the fidelity of the program, which yields from research is that if you hit that time on a consistent basis throughout the year, then your students. will show a year's worth of growth. Now, part of the reason that we stretch it a little bit, right, and that is where we're encouraging... try to get to two lessons, try to hit the 80% mark is so that we can get a

262year and a half worth of growth. Because if we always focus on just one year, then we're never going to close those gaps. But to answer your question specifically, yes, absolutely. We are following the exact guidance from Curriculum Associates. And if there was anything that we were doing that was beyond that, we have encouraged them to say, identify it, tell us what it is so we can fix it. Well, I just wanted to make sure we weren't doubling up on something that the consultant says you only need to do one. And I understand the minutes. And I know you have students who work out beyond the eighth grade level. Because that was one of the questions about the enrichment program. And so you have students, we used to have the old singer cards in a

263box that kids worked on individually way back in the 70s. And so I see the similarity there. It's a right. Let them go. Let them loose. And I just didn't want to see the frustration of saying we are going to do twice what the manufacturer says or the consultant says is necessary for the success of the program. We will adhere to, we believe the fidelity of the program is exactly what the research and the company has provided to us in the training and the support for our teachers. Yeah. Oh, Lewis. Um, just a little bit short, I think. After the students get off, get finished with their iPads, there's instruction in the classroom beyond that, that deals with what they just dealt with on their iPad. Can you explain that a little bit more? Well,

264the individual pathway is about helping kids catch up, and it's also about accelerating kids. It takes them far beyond, like if you think about a teacher and their individual pathway, they're working right where they need. So it's helping to plug holes where a kid might have missed skills. One thing we found out this year, we're still taking our classes with our ready. For instance, we're going to do this during summer school with Dr. Long. We decided that kids are missing. We looked and they're missing the basic fondness of magnetic awareness. We're putting our kids just in that domain and reading. And then we're going to watch them progress at a high rate just there. So we are actually able to. I don't want to say manipulate the system, but we're able to control what the

265kids are doing to help push their reading instruction or math instruction. But at the same time, it's individualized. And it meets every kid's need at that time when the teacher's working with it. And then you can individually meet with a kid. You can do lots of things. It's not just put the kids on an iPad and let them go. It's not that at all. You know, I want the audience to hear this because I think that's the... Yeah, I think it's a very important point. And what I would say is that what they may see, because it... That's perception. Yes, it is. You're right. It needs to change. No, I was just going to say that, you know, we're talking, you know, really no more than 20 to 30 minutes per day. That would be

266maybe three or four times, you know, four to five times a week, right? So the thing is, is that... that a student's personalized pathway on there may align with... another student that has a similar weakness and a certain standard. So your question was, will the teacher be covering that? Well, they very well may in a small group lesson, because that small group lesson may group similar students with similar deficits together so that they can get that one-on-one, that small group intervention with that teacher. Most likely, they're not going to have that in their whole group, though. Because it is that personalized pathway for those students. But you're going to have groups of students that are going to be weak on the same skill. And that's when the teacher pulls them to a small group and

267they work on those, strengthening their skills. Make sure that that's understood. Yeah, and it provides the lesson plans that are making for the teachers. What do we have already in this past year in the middle schools? Are we going to have any contractual? obligation that we have to pay for what we're not going to use because we switched to IHCEL? So, no. So the contract before you is just for K-5. It does not include anything for I-ready at the middle school level. So the curriculum associates approval for this evening is just for K-5. It's for the core math. It's for magnetic literacy. It's for the diagnostic that is done three times a year. And it's for the... the professional development for those three as well. Additional questions? Yes. I know a lot of parents and

268I think even some teachers are saying that iReady is the only diagnostic score, the only thing that's used to decide whether or not to provide assistance on paper for students that are struggling or need testing. So is iReady the only or primary tool used to determine student assistance? Well, actually we addressed this today with principals about what it should look like and there were some I've had some concerns across the county and the district. And so we addressed that again with the principals that it's not the only, and nor should it be, in West Virginia policy for what the MTSS system, we don't show multiple measures, not just one. We use that to start with. That's used for diagnostic screeners. They give us cut scores from the state. We start there. And we talked today

269about using percentile ranking, which is built in to already gives you a percentile, a nationally norm percentile. So that you look at like the 25% below. You should look at the bottom 25% of your school. So that could change school to school where you might be at one intermediate school and they're looking at maybe. 40% below because they had to raise their bar up because what we should be doing is raising that bar and less kids are going to be working with higher kids and work our way out of intervention. But then you might go to another school where they're looking at 25% below because they had a lot of kids there and they need to grow them. So you look at that score. And then once you provide intervention, we talked about every single

270piece of. program or thing that we use has a progress monitoring tool with it. So then we're looking at that. We use those. Give us some examples, please. For like bridges, for example, they have their own screening tool. So not only, and again, what we found with those teachers that work with it, they aligned I-Ready. So they were finding this in I-Ready. Then when the kids took placement tests on where to fall within this program, they were aligning with, they found a lot of alignment. And that's what we're looking for. We don't want products that don't work together. We do fly. And of course, we know everybody loves you, but it has a progress monitoring tool that's ongoing. So you can tell whether this is successful with the kid or we don't want to beat

271a dead horse. It's something that's not working with the kid. We can move to something different. So you bring all of those measures back with you when you go to SAT. So you should have multiple measures of that kid's ability. So it's not just, but initially it's still just that one. It's just a starting point. How do they know that? I mean, evidently from what the questions he's getting, I haven't heard that. Well, that's one of the things that we're actually working on right now. We went over the principles today to say, this is what you should see. Part of our slides that we gave the principals to use in the beginning of next school year was say, if you're using this product, this is what you should see in SAT meetings. This is what

272a teacher should be filling in as your progress monitoring. So those will be presented to the teachers at the beginning of next school year. Yeah, I just don't want that. are ready to be used as a tab, a tool, not even a tool. It's not. To even be like a 60 or more percent, it should be mostly the teacher and their observations, not so much focused so much on what I already think. We have to have some kind of diagnosis. No, no, I'm not saying not at all. I'm just saying it shouldn't be the primary. It's the starting point for everything. And for the dyslexia screener for the state of West Virginia, they give us those cut scores, so we have to use those. But it's only the beginning to start, especially if you're going

273to take a kid to SAT. You have to have multiple measures. Right. You're right. The teacher is collecting that other data there, and that's what you want. You want to converse with that teacher. Sometimes if you have interventions, they're collecting information, the teacher is, and then you have the already. I'll bring all that together. And if you need additional testing and SAT, they can always request a QPS or something in addition for that. So you can bring all those multiple measures to the table. I think what's frustrating, I'm going to interrupt you just for a second. I think what's frustrating is that our staff hears you. And then they sit there and go, but this is delay after delay after delay for our kids. Because... They have the evaluation done for the eye ready, and

274yet they still have to watch their kids struggle in the classroom. And there's struggle week after week after week, and they have to continue to go through all these different diagnostics, and let's try these different interventions, and then we try to do this, that, and the other, and then we have to wait for a meeting, and then we have to meet, and then we have to try these next interventions, and then... It's just this continual, perpetual kick the can down the road for lack of a better term. And I know that I've had this conversation with you, Mr. Dilley. This is where it gets very, very frustrating for the teacher and for the parent who is on that other side watching their child, let's call it this way, suffer in the classroom. Yeah, it's required

275by the MTSS system that we collect that data before we would result to an IEP or something of that nature. And then we get to that point where we have to collect that data in tier two and tier three. And that's what we would be collecting before you can stop. But it can be frustrating. I think to piggyback off of both of your questions, it's like Lewis had alluded to with the conversations that were going on with the principals earlier today. It's because there has to be a diagnostic measure. So it's not necessarily because it's I-ready. It's that the guidance that's given to us, like you said, the multiple measures, it has to be some type of diagnostic assessment. So if it wasn't I-ready, then it would have to be, for example, we're going to

276talk a little bit about it later, potentially I-excel to get that diagnostic data. So I just want to make sure that we know it's not necessarily. We said, was I ready? If it wasn't, I ready. Then we'd have to come back to the table of what's the diagnostic assessment going to be to measure. student for progress monitoring to measure the growth of those students. Well, that happened in the state gave us five options we had to choose from. We had to choose one of the five that they gave us. They gave us options at the very beginning. It was one of the iReady, STAR. Yeah, STAR was one. iReady was one. The new version of DIVLS was one of those. It was paper pencil, so we tried to get something that was a little bit

277easier for teachers. But yeah, we, and most of the state, West Virginia, chooses iReady, so. So is this, it's iReady period? Or can we choose any of the five with each kid? We would have to. Oh, you know, we choose the state. The state would expect us because we have to upload. We have to upload to the state how students are progressing. They do it twice, twice a year, three times a year. So we would, as a school district, need to have adoption that they take. I think my question is a little bit ambiguous because you are answering this question, but I think my question is when we are submitting that initial diagnostic that we need to get the process started, can we choose any of the five or do we have to wait for

278the BOI, the MLY, or the EOI? Those diagnostics throughout the year. No. They're asking, do we have to wait for the diagnostic to have the data point? No. Right. No. In fact, we could use multiple measures. Once you have that diagnostic, when you start there, then you can measure the kid. In fact, like I said, we gave the principals multiple ways. actually meeting the kids needs as a k2 level we said you pick the tool that you use that works best for those kids and that gives back that autonomy to the teacher what you were saying mr wright exactly saying yeah i know what's best for this kid i'm going to use this to intervene and then i'm going to measure that so we've given the right to the teacher and the principal to make

279those decisions so it could be two weeks after the beginning of the year i ready testing but it'd be two weeks later because you're noticing something and... Yeah, so for every two weeks they collect the data point of whatever tool they're using because you don't want to be using something that is not working. Is there... Because as a parent, I'm putting the parents... I'm trying to put myself into the parents' shoes, but also putting myself into the teacher's shoes. This is going to be incredibly frustrating and infuriating for them. This is mandated by the state that we have to go through this extensive process. RMTSS process, I guess. So our kids get screwed. For lack of a better word. If we try to support, help them along the way as we're going, they call it.

280What we should do is we need to provide kids before they would move to like, if you're thinking an IEP or special ed, we need to give them core, make sure that's solid. We've done a phenomenal job this year of solidifying our core. And I think we're going to do better things. So we have to give them core, more and more. And so core. Tier two, which is more, and then tier three, which is more. So we've got to give them core more and more, and then we can move into something like that. So we need to try things before we get there and then show that it worked or didn't work. And then if it doesn't, then we can show we've done everything we can to keep a kid from that particular set of

281services that they might need. But then even when they get there, that is something else that we're going to put Mr. Dilley and his department on. Kids, even when they get there, they still get core. And the state asked that we give them tier two and tier three also. Now, sometimes that's impossible scheduling and number of staff we have. So we give them, continue to give them core, but then also give them some kind of more in addition to the special ed services. And I know Mr. Dilley has given me a lot of information. I've only just begun to understand everything that you've given to me. But I'm just, when we know we have a student, because... We know that we know sometimes that we've got a student that's just, we can do the core

282and the more and the more. We know that we've got a student that's just probably not going to respond to those. We still have to follow the process. What do we do in the meantime? Sometimes we suffer through it. We work them, and sometimes the testing can take place a little bit sooner, even though we're collecting the data. So things that we've been able to sometimes overlap them so that we know that there's a kid, so that speeds it up a little bit more. And then I have to say, I think the special education group has not spread that timeline out because the timeline could take a long, long time. But I think when we see a situation like that, we try to overlap some things. speeding that to make sure that we're getting the

283kids things but just remember everybody that's associated with that kid they're trying to support that kid as we go along and i think some of that stuff i think really needs to get communicated down to our staff yeah because it's i i think to mr wright's point it's not yeah well staff and parents and parents yes a lot of for a lot of the professional development we're trying to be more cautious with our words not to necessarily say a product or the certain test so that's why i kept saying like the diagnostic assessment so then that way it just doesn't feel like well just i i already have a certain diagnostic assessment because there's several there could be several diagnostic assessments but then depending on whatever the diagnostic assessment or tool that we're using It

284is then helping our building principals and all sort of teachers understand that, yes, there's different data points and metrics that you're going to pull in. But like Willis had alluded to, depending on certain guidance that we're given or if there's certain policies that we have to follow, there are still going to be certain assessments that. is it ultimately going to be the measuring stick for the student? So just like on the gen ed side, when we say there's a variety of different ways, we know our kids are more than a number, the end of the day they're looking at the GSA test. Same way at the high school level, at the end of the day they're looking at the SAT. So we're always assessing our students in a variety of different ways. We always take

285that feedback from our teachers to see how we can differentiate and grow our kids. Depending on whatever the metric is that we have to look at, there are certain things that at the end of the day are going to fill the tail for them. Any other questions? You heard the superintendent's recommendation to approve the curriculum, associate renewal, and associate the restructuring to support certain resources for the 26-27 school year. I have a motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I'm still on the agenda is 9.8 discussion of possible action on IXL learning contract for middle school instructional and intervention support services, Dr. Sachs. Thank you, Madam President. Tonight, I bring you forward a recommendation to approve a contract with IXL learning to support middle school intervention, enrichment, progress monitoring, and multi-tiered systems of

286support, commonly referred to as MTSS. The proposed contract provides access to IXL for students in grades 6 through 8 in mathematics, English language arts, science, and social studies, as well as targeted supports for identified high school special education students. The total contract amount is $117,456.25. and will be funded through available Step 7a resources. The proposal also includes professional learning and implementation support services. I believe it is important to explain why this recommendation is being made and how it connects to the broader instructional work occurring in our middle schools. First, this recommendation supports the district's continued efforts to strengthen intervention, enrichment, literacy support, and MTSS structures at the middle school level. As the Board is aware, our middle schools are continuing to refine intervention enrichment periods designed to provide targeted support for students performing below grade

287level. while also creating opportunities for enrichment, acceleration, and expanded learning experiences for students who are meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations. I recognize that some of the discussion surrounding this recommendation is connected to broader conversations regarding middle school intervention and enrichment periods. Some middle schools historically utilize standalone reading classes for certain groups of students. As we have evaluated student needs and intervention structure across the district, Our goal has been to move toward a more comprehensive MTSS framework that allows schools to provide targeted intervention based upon demonstrated student need while also creating opportunities for enrichment and acceleration. The intent is not to reduce support for struggling readers. In fact, the intent is to provide more responsive support by allowing students to move in and out of intervention services based upon current performance data. rather than remaining in

288a static placement for an entire school year. Within that framework, the instructional tools selected must support intervention, progress monitoring, differentiation, enrichment, and teacher-led instruction. Our staff believe that IXL is the stronger option for those purposes at the middle school level. Second, this recommendation is the result of extensive stakeholder feedback gathered throughout the 2025-2026 school year. District leadership gathered input from middle school teachers, administration, instructional staff, faculty senates, school leadership teams, and students across all six middle schools. English language arts and mathematics teachers participated in structured discussions comparing IXL and I-Ready and evaluating how each platform supported instruction, intervention, MTSS implementation, student engagement, and reporting. Teachers consistently reported that IXL aligned more naturally with the West Virginia standards, provided clearer and more actionable student data, supported intervention and enrichment more effectively, and was easier to integrate

289into daily instruction. Students participating in the Superintendent Student Advisory Council also expressed a stronger preference for IXL due to its interactive design, progress tracking, as well as its feedback features. I also want to acknowledge that the Board may reasonably ask why a change is being recommended after a year in which middle schools demonstrated positive academic growth, and I think that's a very fair question. Staff is not recommending this change because we believe student growth should be disregarded, nor are we recommending this change as a rejection of the IRA. i-Ready program as a platform. In fact, earlier this evening, staff recommended renewal of i-Ready resources at the elementary level because we believe those resources continue to provide value within that instructional framework. Rather, our staff believe that i-Excel is a better fit for the middle school

290MTSS model we are implementing. The recommendation reflects educator feedback, student feedback, alignment to intervention structures, and the practical realities of how middle school teachers are delivering targeted support and enrichment opportunities. I would also note that IXL is not new to Berkeley County Schools. However, one of the lessons learned from prior implementation is that the district did not establish the same level of consistency, the same level of expectations, intervention structures, or... accountability measures that are now being developed through our MTSS framework. The recommendation before you is not simply to return to IXL. It is a return to IXL with a stronger instructional framework, clearer guidance, and lessons learned from both platforms being utilized. Finally, school psychologists as well as special education staff identified value in utilizing IXL at the high school level as an additional intervention

291and progress monitoring tool for students with identified learning needs. The platform's reporting and skill tracking features support individualized instructional planning and monitoring of student growth. Ultimately, this recommendation is not about abandoning one program in favor of another. It is about selecting the tool that staff believes best supports the middle school MTSS framework we are building, strengthens teacher-led intervention and enrichment, and provides students with targeted opportunities for growth. The action before the board utilizes the district to enter into a contract with IXL Learning. Staff believe this recommendation aligns with instructional direction being developed for our middle schools and reflects extensive feedback from the educators and students who will utilize the system. I respectfully submit this item for the board's consideration. You heard the superintendent's recommendations. Questions? I have a question for Ms. Klobner. I think when

292you were principal at Rossman High, Did we use IXL at that level? He did. Okay. I remember looking at IXL scores in the other two high schools, I think, at that time. And they were high and yours were lower. But your state assessments were higher. And the reason I was told is that the students were being kind of allowed to go into IXL at some low level. and do easy work. Whereas you all were saying, no, you're going to work on the level where you're being challenged. And so my question is, and I think I heard it in Dr. Sacks' comments there, how are we going to be sure that the kids aren't just... One plus one equals two, and then they go to work from there. Great question. That is actually something that was

293fixed by Excel. Oh, good. That's a concern I have. You were rated exactly. So Mrs. Campbell is one of our academic specialists, and she was actually one of the individuals that was responsible for bringing the focus groups together to get feedback. So would you mind coming up and sharing? Because that was my pet peeve two years ago with IXL and IRO. That is over and over again. So IXL has done extensive updating. And it's very, very good stuff. So they have a lockdown browser now. So students can't pop out and AI their answers. So that's very cool. And I just talked to Colleen Burt today. And when I was teaching. Two years ago, we had IXL, and sometimes our students would jump out and try to get points in the third grade level, and I

294taught sixth grade. However, now they have closed that gap, and you can put your students in a focus zone. So when kids come to NTSS, Teachers can now, and for three hours, you can set a focus zone and you can keep your students, you can choose which levels you want them to stay in and that sticks for three hours. What's better than that is if your student is in eighth grade and they're messing around on their diagnostic and just going click, click, click, click, click, and it comes back at a kindergarten level. ISL now recognizes the click, click, click, click, click, and it will put them in a fifth grade pathway, no less than three years below. This also allows the teachers to go in and see the click, click, click, click, click. Did it

295take them seven minutes instead of 30 minutes to take their diagnostic? Or did the student actually struggle? And do we have a real problem here? I mean, you're probably not going to have someone in eighth grade in a kindergarten level. Those paths should have been identified, well, in the earlier grades, right? Well, but you said they could go back to and work on fifth grade work. It would lock them in so that they can't go below fifth grade, but a teacher can up that in the focus zone. If the teacher's assessing that at that time, but... Oh, do you see what I'm saying? Right. But you can do it in a three hour. And you can also do it and reset it and you could cover it in a six hour time. Okay. Got you.

296Absolutely. What if it's not? So I'm getting tired. So I apologize if I don't phrase this the best way. Apologies. It is 1030. Let's say I'm teaching seventh grade and the student I'm working with is on a seventh grade level. So their pathway, I'm trying to keep them on that seventh grade level. And they do the click, click, click. But I've already put the safeguard in place and they can't go below that seventh grade. They do the click, click, click. Does it automatically put them down to fifth grade? They've already done their diagnostic. They've completed their diagnostic. And you want them in that seventh grade level. Your focus is on the seventh grade. And they can't get questions in sixth. And I don't think you'd want to set a holistic set because you do want

297it to be adaptive to go up. I'm giving it as the foundation, as the bottom, as the bottom level. Because my desire is not for them to go lower. To go higher. But to go higher. I don't want them to go lower. I don't want them to do easy work to satisfy their minutes. Yes. Which is what was done before. Well, and I excel. fidelity is based on skills, not minutes. Okay, good. And mastery. Yeah, and the mastery of that. So you have your two skills at 80%. A lot has changed. It sounds like. I'm going to ask a question that I'm, when I ask this question, my desire is to not come across as confrontational. by any stretch of the imagination okay i i know it could be considered confrontational um in years past

298in months past it has been advised not only to this board but also to the community um that in order for us to understand and see change We need to adopt a curriculum or adopt a philosophy or change within the district and stay with that, making minor adjustments here and there for wiggle room, but keep it going for at least three to five years in order to get there. We haven't done that. So I feel like we're doing whiplash. So to speak. It's IXL. And we're doing it already. Now we're doing IXL again. And I feel like we're doing this. Tell me why I should say yes. Because I feel like we haven't even given IXL adequate time to do what we have said. We've advised what we've told the community what we needed to

299do. When we've said. Three to five years. We didn't do three to five years. You mean I-Ready? No, no. I'm sorry. I mean I-Ready. Again, 10-3rd. Okay. So I-Ready has some limitations that we didn't recognize. When they rolled I-Ready out as a pilot in North last year, halfway through the year, they rolled out I-Ready Pro for students who were two years, three years below level. And then this year, we adopted it countywide for the middle schools, and we recognized we can't go beyond 8th grade. They're maxing out. And we did not experience that fully at Norton in the time frame that we had trial. So that is a very big weakness. And we have eighth graders who, by October, needed more. Well, that was a concern I heard that eighth graders could. Right. They would

300just have to go back and review. Yes. That doesn't go past. Yes. And I read even in it, they did some things and they turned some things on. They were doing the best that they could with the program that they had. And they were trying to help us as much as they could. And this is I-Ready Pro. And that's what's in grades 6 through 8. I-Ready K-5 is regular I-Ready. So to give a little additional background. So when North and Pyle had their first year of implementation with the middle school I-Ready program, one of the complaints that... that not necessarily were at North, but that the company was trying to address was they were still using characters and those types of things that were similar to the elementary R&D program. So they wanted to come

301up with something that was a little bit more mature for middle school students to have as their resource. In addition, they developed this R&D Pro to address that. And when the last portion of the year with North, they only had a few students that were in this I already pro when the school year opened up, they had phased out the other port with the irony that was sort of juvenile and all they had was I already pro. And we didn't recognize that. So that was a limitation. And that I already pro when a student would. miss an answer, correct me if I'm wrong, if they would miss an answer, it would make them go all the way back and do that same skill over again, as opposed to scaffold it and kind of scaffold where

302they missed. So that has been a limitation behind the IRED Pro version that our students have been exposed to. Now, with that being said, Curriculum Associates is aware of that problem. They're trying to address it. But in the meantime, We also recognize that it doesn't go beyond the eighth grade level. And earlier in the year, we had intended to have those students who had basically progressed through to be moved to ConMingo, right? Well, we will own that we didn't get the contract with ConMingo in time to be able to cover that gap. We have it now, and it's been working well. from the students I talked to, they love CommMingo compared to Khan Academy also. So with that being said. With all of those factors being considered throughout the school year, we continued to hear

303feedback of how people really sort of liked, in comparison, the IXL program. So then, again, the question becomes, well, if we're going back to something we've had for a while and we weren't seeing the results, then why are we going back to it? And that's why it's really important that, as I reflected upon it, and I think I shared, And actually, Mr. Murphy pointed out, you had one principal that was implementing it well, and then you had another one that was just sort of loosey-goosey, right? And there was no consistency from the district, I think, that emphasized guidance that was best practice for fidelity. There was not monitoring. There wasn't the inspecting what we expected. Those types of things to ensure that the program was being utilized in the best way possible. And that's what

304we've learned from the implementation of both products. But I think it's also very important to point out that the feedback that we have received from our teachers, specifically the work that Mrs. Campbell has worked with them on, as well as our administrators, there is a... very concerted, unified focus on we really want to go back to IXL. And I think what they're also saying is we've learned. what we need to do differently with implementation moving forward. That was going to be my next question was how are we doing this differently? Because if I go back to Mr. Murphy's graphs that he brought up at the beginning of our board meeting, where it shows that downward trend, all I think about is IXL and we were in that downward trend and that's what we were predominantly

305using was IXL and I don't want to go backwards. I want to go forwards and we've got such an... upward momentum of accelerating. I just don't want to lose any momentum whatsoever. Yeah, and I really don't think that, I think that this will actually gain more momentum because now... We have more people that have been a part of the process. I think there's buy-in. So as we put that framework together through the MTSS period. See, the other thing is before, there was no unified MTSS period across our middle schools. Because honestly, some of our schools didn't have time for it because they had the reading class. And so with that being said, this allows us to really differentiate the support for those students. in a very, very intentional way with IXL being a part of

306that. And the other thing that's really important is that we're not talking about IXL in this MTSS period as being you go to the MTSS period and you're put on IXL. That is not what's occurring. There is a framework and there is an architecture to that 45-minute period. that has teacher-led instruction, small group instruction based upon the skill deficits of those students, and a personalized learning pathway instead of I-Ready, it's going to be I-Excel. Now, the other thing, and Mrs. Power, you and I, we've had conversations about this, is that I don't care if it's I-Excel, if it's I-Ready, if it's... Conmingo, if it's MAP, if it's STAR, any of these programs that are out there, if done with fidelity and with guardrails and with expectations, can be successful. Now, And I also believe that

307it's not just about one program. I think that there are, again, I think that any program can be successful that has a company that is willing to tweak. The problems that the practitioners bring forward, and one of the things that I have found is that iReady has always been very responsive to, we need to fix what you're telling us is wrong, right? iExcel has also been very much that way. In fact, I noticed that my first year here when we had iExcel, because I was pushing back on them. I could see that the fidelity wasn't... It wasn't great, and I thought, you know, we need to bring them in for some training. And so we were able to do that, and they were very responsive. And since we're a large school district, we're a large

308account, they've also taken note of the problems that we identified, and they fixed them in their platform. There's some other products out there. Achieve 3000 is another one. New Zella are great products that listen to their customers and are always trying to make improvements. There are some products out there that have been left in the dust. I'm probably going to, reading 180 is one of them. Reading 180 back 10, 15 years ago was the next best thing. That program has not evolved with the research and those sort of things. But programs like iReady, like IXL. They are absolutely staying current of what students need to know. And I firmly believe that based upon the feedback from staff, we're going to have a better implementation next year because of the buy-in. I do think it, with

309all the changes that's been made to IXL, does address the county's needs. It does. And I also wanted to point out that, and I know I'm not here to bash I-Ready at all, but IXL has a huge... amount of writing and grammar. That's great. It is and our ELA teachers really missed that this year with iReady. There were some, it was few and selective, so we will have more writing and grammar and One of the other issues, they're both computer adaptive programs, so it allows the students to keep moving up. And then if they miss one, it'll take them back just a level. In iReady, teachers cannot see, nor can the students, the questions that they miss. It's already off screen. In IXL, when they miss it, it brings it up. and tells them why

310they missed it. Then the student can take that to the teacher's desk or in the small group, and the teacher can actually see why the student answered what they did. With iReady, the question just sort of evaporates, and we don't know when it will come back again in the process. It just sort of goes away. And IXL. It meshes with all of our textbooks. So when teachers are reading a passage in IXL or in StudySync in IXL, they can go in and find that standard and find questions related to what they were actually reading. It does it with our reveal map. It does it with our science. It does it with all of our textbooks. Mr. Murphy. Earlier we were told that I already kept sound at eighth grade level. Where does I excel cap

311out? 12. 12. So for our gifted kids, we are able to keep pushing them. Yeah. Without having to worry. What they're going to do. Yes. Quick question. Is there, I excel Spanish, and so how much does that add on? Somebody asked me that today. There are 100 in B. languages and it's all more than just part of it. You don't have to pay that extra. So it's free. Oh, okay. It's part of the, it's part of the plan. Okay. It's embedded in the cost. Any other questions? You all got it. I was with Ms. Bowerson with your questions, but they kind of got it. And I will say, thank you for, for taking my questions. Sure. I will say I was a no walking in here. Oh. So I'm a yes now. But I was

312a no walking in. So you do feel better about it? I feel better about it. You answered a couple of questions. One of my biggest questions and concerns was the fact of being able to go back and doing something easier and there was no safeguard in place. Well, that was a good question I had too. Because before, kids were able to do... easy math problems or easier work and there was no there was no preventing that and that is a concern for mine because if we can't push them to to master where they're at and then push to the next level what's i mean what are we doing thank you very much so thank you You heard Superintendent's recommendation to approve the IXL Learning Contract from Associated Instructional Support Services for grades K-8 and targeted

313special education supports for grades 9-12 for the 20-26-27 school year. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion closed. Madam President, we've already accomplished 9.9, which is personnel action. However, I just want to remind you that we did add 9.10, which is from the consent agenda. Specialized educational services exceeding $100,000. Mr. Dilley is here to answer any questions, but this again is for contractual services. for special education services in the school district. There is a list of facilities that are providing services for us that each of these in totality throughout the school year are projected to exceed $100,000 per year. And again, it's correct or wrong, Mr. Dilley, but many of these things can be added. we may not know that a student needs until january right we

314may need a student that moves into the district that may need those special services or you may need to travel outside to get those services yeah understood and these are mandated we can't get out of it this is not covered typically by funds that we get. This is stuff that comes out of these hard decisions every day. Absolutely. Absolutely. And it's for the student's benefit. And sometimes it has nothing to do with whether or not we can properly provide for the student. It's that typically any public school system. would not be able to provide for the services that is needed. So there was a list of who are contracting with the board approval. So any other questions regarding that? Ms. Power, you brought that up. Do you have any other questions? I have no other

315questions. I just wanted to make it clear that this is just one more example as to why we approved 9.1. All in favor? Second. Second. motion carries. What? We didn't vote. We didn't vote? No. Do you have a motion and a second? All in favor? Aye. Motion carries. Here we go. I'm hearing things, I guess. Next on the agenda is the superintendent's evaluation. That's just for board members to do an executive section discussing. May I raise a point of order? Yes. The hour is late. We could make a motion that would not cost the taxpayers another meeting, and we could carry this meeting over for that action. Our superintendent's done a great job, and I don't want to do a poor evaluation. I think we need to talk about some things, and I'm just played

316up. Well, I think we can just... Can I offer one suggestion? Yes. We have until the 30th to take care of this, and we have the meeting on the 15th. I think we had already discussed possibly starting a little early, like 5.30, 5, whatever you guys are able to do so you have time to work on the evaluation. And then if we need more time, we can meet after that. I would like to move the meeting to 5 o'clock on the 15th, and if that could be the first thing on the agenda, Jess. Yeah. And if you guys reach a conclusion, great. If not, we can revisit at the end of the meeting or at another time. It's up to you guys. Yeah. Okay. So we will move that to the 15th, starting the meeting

317at 5 o'clock. And that will be the first thing on the agenda after the regular board meeting items. Is that for sure? Sounds good? How did you say it will be? 5 o'clock. Yes, ma'am. So that's everybody's consensus. That's what we'll do. So you heard that, that's right? Yes, ma'am. So next thing on the agenda, sir, an adjournment. Can I have a motion to adjourn? So moved. Second. Second.