School Board Meeting: February 20, 2024

001Good evening I would like to call to order the regular meeting of the Newport News School Board for Tuesday February 20th 2024 On behalf of the members of the school board and Superintendent Mitchell, I welcome each of you present this evening and those who are watching on TV and online. A quorum is present to transact the business of the school division. And tonight we will begin the meeting with an invocation and pledge to the flag. So here to do the honors are two students from Deer Park Elementary School, Parker Richardson and Gia Pack. First we're gonna have Parker who will come forward and deliver the invocation and he will be followed by Gia who will come forward and deliver the pledge So Parker if you will come on and tell us a little about yourself

002before you get started Hi, I'm a fifth grade student at Deer Park and I'm 10 years old Great. Thank you You share your invocation with us. Yes, ma'am Good evening, school board members and Dr. Mitchell. Thank you for allowing me to be here this evening. My name is Parker Richardson, and I'm a fifth grade student at Deer Park Elementary. I'm in the photography club and a member of the robotics team. My favorite subjects are science and math. When I grow up, I want to be an inventor, a chef, and collaborate with the Lego company. My mom told me February was Virginia School Board Appreciation Month. Thank you for all you do for our schools. Today, as we continue to celebrate Black History Month, the message I would like to leave with everyone is to be

003brave. Harriet Tubman was brave when she decided to escape from slavery to seek freedom. Harriet Tubman was well known in the Underground Railroad, which was a network of paths that led to homes, barns, basements, and churches. At one point, over $40,000 was offered for the capture of Harriet Tubman, knowing that she still returned to help other enslaved people escape. In the study of African American history, there are many accounts where individuals made the choice to do what was right, which required them to be brave. In today's world with so much going on, we need more people who were brave. In closing, I would like to share a poem written by Langston Hughes. Dreams. Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams, for

004when dreams go, life is a barren field frozen with snow. Thank you. Thank you, Parker. Next, we'll have Gia. If you will come and tell us a little bit about yourself and then lead us through the pledge, please. Hello, my name is Gia Peck. I'm a fifth grade student at Deer Park Elementary. I like the teachers at my school and all the animals throughout the school. My favorite subject is math. I want to be a graphic designer for my future career. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Thank you. And then supporting Parker and Gia tonight are their families and school family.

005Can I have you all stand? The board really does appreciate you taking time, pouring into your students and bringing them to tonight's meeting. That's what we're here for. This is what we're about. So thank you for sharing them with us. The next item on tonight's agenda is the school board recognition. So Dr. Mitchell, will you please join me at the podium? So this evening the school board has the pleasure of welcoming the sixth president of Christopher Newport University. Present this evening to introduce him is one of our very own proud Warwick High School graduates and he is currently a Christopher Newport student who went through as a community captain. His name is Christopher Mojica. The Community Captains Program is a partnership between Christopher Newport University and Newport News Public Schools. The free two-year college prep

006program provides a select Newport News Public School students with on-campus learning opportunities including a free for credit course. CNU student mentors during their junior and their senior years so it is truly a shepherding along to get them to Christopher Newport University. The program also offers access to educational, cultural, and social events at CNU and upon successful completion early admission status. So Christopher is a member of the inaugural class of community captains. He will graduate from CNU in May 2025 with a degree in accounting and a minor in leadership studies. Christopher Newport University is known for its leadership in this community. He is a Bonner Service Scholar, a member of the President's Leadership Program, so I guess you know Dr. Kelly a little bit, and recently secured an internship with Cherry Bekaert, one of the top

007accounting firms in the United States. How impressive. Please welcome Christopher, and congratulations, Christopher, and thank you for joining us this evening. So I will share the mic with you. Good evening all. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board, and Superintendent Mitchell. As you all know, I'm a member of Cohort 1 of the Community Captains Program and a graduate of Newport News Public Schools. My story with Christopher Newport and Newport News Public Schools have become forever intertwined through the Community Captains Program. I began my CNU story in my sophomore year of high school with what I assumed would just be a two-year supplemental program from the end of my high school career. This quickly changed as I decided to enroll in CNU, turning the program into a six-year program full of wonderful opportunities and experiences

008for all students in the program. I thought that starting at CNU and graduating would mark the end of my Newport News Public Schools journey, but I was given the opportunity to give back, to grow with the community captains through service. Through this opportunity, I was able to reconnect my Newport News Public Schools and CNU stories and become a piece of the bridge that connects CNU and NNPS. My experiences in community captains opened the door to many amazing opportunities at CNU, including being one of the first students to introduce President Kelly and Angie Kelly to CNU. I first met President Kelly and Angie Kelly during one of their first visits to Christopher Newport University last February. He was having lunch with a select group of students from CNU, learning about their experiences and stories. The lunch

009with President Kelly and his wife Angie Kelly would become our first of many interactions before starting at CNU. Each interaction drove home the intentionality and the authenticity they were bringing to the university. Every time we saw each other, they spoke with curiosity and a desire to learn more about me and other students at the school. They spoke with genuine care in their words and aspirations for the university. In my opinion, with the direction the university is currently heading in, there are no better candidates to lead CNU. Now for a more formal introduction of our president. William G. Kelly is the sixth president of Christopher Newport University. He is a nationally respected educator and military leader. Bill Kelly is a lifelong public servant with nearly four decades of distinguished service in the U.S. Coast Guard. Prior

010to his appointment as president, Rear Admiral Kelly was the 42nd Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. His military career spanned 36 years as he commanded forces both ashore and afloat. He stood watch for our nation from the waters of the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Alaska and following the 9-11 attacks in New York Harbor. President Kelly has an extensive background in human resource development, training and education, and has been an advocate for inclusive leadership and developing diverse teams throughout his career. President Kelly earned his undergraduate degree from the Coast Guard Academy and a master's degree from Florida State University. President Kelly met his wife Angie during his junior year at the Coast Guard Academy, and they have been a team ever since. Married for 35 years, they are proud parents of two sons, Patrick

011and Tyler, and the adoring grandparents to their grandson, Liam Kelly. Please welcome me in welcoming President Kelly to the podium. You know, Johnny Carson said never follow children or young adults. So Parker and Gia, excellent job. And Chris, thank you so much for that very kind introduction. Madam Chairwoman, thank you so much for the opportunity to be here with you tonight. Superintendent Mitchell, thank you for all that you do with your amazing team here to educate the students of our fair city. My wife Angie and I are so appreciative of being with you tonight, and I thank all of my captains that are here to support me. As captains do, Lauren, thank you for being here as well this evening, one of our amazing students. This is a very special opportunity for me. Angie and

012I grew up in a family of educators. Both of Angie's parents were teachers. My father was a teacher, and our son is now a teacher and a coach up in a much chillier place up in Boston, Massachusetts. Over the past eight months, I've had the opportunity to work, to listen and learn about the needs of not only our university, but also our community. And it's clear to me that we have an opportunity to strengthen our ties with the City of Newport News and the Peninsula overall. And I thank you for the opportunity to be here with you tonight to share some of our efforts that are underway to ensure we are truly Newport News' hometown university. Here are some of the ways we connect with your schools, and we are always on the lookout for

013more opportunities. So as a superintendent, we have a connection. Her dad was in the Coast Guard, so the connections are tight here. As we already spoke about, our community captains program is an amazing effort into its fifth cohort and getting ready to start with its sixth cohort. We have over 125 students that have matriculated through the Newport News public school system to Christopher Newport University, and there's been over 350. community captains that have been involved in the program since its beginning. And so thankful to have Brandon Jones here tonight. I think he knows every single person in Newport News. And Brandon is a great example of Newport News, of Christopher Newport University, and we're blessed to have him on our team. Now there's some exciting news to go along with our community captains program as

014we kind of start to inch towards that opportunity to graduate the very first community captain. And our very first community captain will graduate this December. three and a half years and then Chris and others will follow that captain up graduating next May on the Great Lawn in 2025 which probably seems like a long way away but it's gonna come like that. And then also our Masters of Arts in Teaching program, our Masters of Arts in Teaching, is a program that provides a pipeline of educators well-prepared to serve in your schools, ma'am, as you know. And our partnership with you provides valuable opportunities to our students. Each fall, Newport News Public School System extends job offers complete with signing bonuses. to our future teachers. And I had the opportunity to pop in on that offer this

015past fall. And the excitement in the room was palpable. It was a wonderful place to be. And these young folks are ready to enter into a lifetime of service because that's what you do. I thank the Newport News Public Schools for having such confidence in our programs and our teacher and their preparation. We are also thankful to Kim Hammond and Nina Farish for serving on our Teacher Preparation Council and to many Newport News Public School administrators and teachers who open their classrooms and their schools to allow our teachers to prepare. We also connect with Newport News Public Schools in less formal ways. On Friday, April 12th, the Ferguson Center will be hosting the first ever Newport News Public School Music Festival. We're looking forward to about 2,000 students being on campus in our beautiful Ferguson

016Center, and it'll be a wonderful day. Finally, I encourage every Newport News high school student to consider following in Chris's and Lauren's footsteps and attend their hometown university. I need your help. I need your help to make this a reality. I am committed to ensuring that Christopher Newport University is the most inclusive campus possible and to ensure that Christopher Newport University is representative of the community that we live in. Every student has the right to feel like they truly belong on our campus, and we are working to fortify a culture of inclusion and a sense of belonging for each and every captain that chooses to pursue the journey with us. And I know the women and men in this room tonight have tremendous influence on the young students in our community. Please encourage them to

017check out their hometown university and provide them the opportunity to follow in Chris and Lauren's footsteps. Angie and I thank you for the honor and for giving us a few minutes tonight to tell our story. And let me say close by saying that our campus is open to all. We want you to come take in a game, come to a show, come just walk around our beautiful campus and enjoy the atmosphere. This is your university. Thank you again. And because we have some captains in the room, ma'am, I'm obligated to say, and as always, go captains. Well, thank you so much, President Kelly. I think Christopher said it the best. You speak from your heart. You're authentic, and we're really glad to have you with us. So on behalf of the entire Newport News School

018community, we really do welcome you in our space. I want to also say, as I know, we don't do what we do by ourselves, and we know that you don't either. So I noticed that you have some of your leadership team present here today. I think you have Jennifer Latour, is that pronounced correct? Chief of Staff. So thank you. Jim Hanchett, Chief Communications Officer. Excuse me. Dr. Lisa Duncan-Rains, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Success. Hello, Lisa. Dr. Lori Underwood, Vice Provost. Yes. And Brandon Jones, Director of the Community Captains Program and a Newport News family member. And of course, we have our students who were once ours and are now yours. So thank you for joining us. We look forward to enhancing our collaborations from the Community Captains Program and the Student Teacher University

019to co-hosting Community STEM Day and more. Newport News Public Schools and Christopher Newport University have a strong partnership that benefits our school division. the university and our Newport News community. It was a joy to hear you rattle off the communication, the commonalities that we have. That shows how much he is really invested. So since President Kelly's inauguration, Just a few months ago, he has worked tirelessly to advance Christopher Newport and strengthen its support and leadership in Newport News through also community walks, which I had the pleasure of joining on the first one, and I believe we're going to do another in the spring. I am excited to do that. It's a joint task force with the City of Newport News, and the point of the walks and his mission is to seek, understand, acknowledge, and

020address the history and development of Christopher Newport and the city's role in its development. I think that's a strong undertaking in this day and time. President Kelly, I know this is only the beginning for you. Thank you and your partner in life, your wife, Angie, and members of your leadership team for your commitment and your shared vision, and your shared vision for Newport News Public Schools. We have a gift for you, a small token of our appreciation. If you would come forward. Oh, it looks like you get to cut. Oh, wow. This is wonderful. Sweet, you want to come up? Yes, would you come forward? And that community walk is 22 March. It's 22 March. 22 March. It's coming up. I'm going to go on the other side. Dr. Mitchell, will you join us on

021this side? Last week was the Virginia School Board Association School Board Clerk Appreciation Week. And the school board would like to take a few moments to acknowledge the dedication of our school board clerk, Ms. Tiffany Moore-Buffalo. Ms. Buffalo, would you please come forward? Each February, the Virginia School Board Association designates School Board Clerk Appreciation Week to recognize and acknowledge the work and assistance, and that is said very, very loosely, assistance, that school board clerks provide to school board members, superintendents, and the school community at large. That is code for keeping us together. School board clerks are responsible for keeping records of meetings and documenting official proceedings of the school board preparing and posting meeting agendas organizing meeting schedules and providing administrative Support among other duties such as making sure the chair shows up where she

022is supposed to be Miss Moore Buffalo maintains a complete and accurate record of all school board proceedings including maintaining the board's online meeting portal, board docs, ensuring transparency and access. She also maintains the board's calendar, coordinates and schedules our professional development, and serves as a liaison between the school board and the public. Simply put, she is a huge asset and a vital member of our school board team. She is also the chair of her school board. In what city? Norfolk. Isn't that amazing? She holds us all together. So Ms. Buffalo, on behalf of the school board, administration, and citizens of this community, thank you for your dedicated service. Picture. Good evening. I have the privilege of presenting the next recognition. Tonight, I have the pleasure of acknowledging the dedicated members of the Newport News School

023Board. February is School Board Appreciation Month in Virginia. This observance was established by the Virginia School Boards Association in 1989 to encourage public recognition of the roles and responsibilities of school board members and to highlight the importance of public education. This year, as in previous years, the governor issued a proclamation officially recognizing February as School Board Appreciation Month in the Commonwealth. Locally elected school board members play an important role in our representative democracy as the decisions of local school boards directly influence instruction in Virginia's public schools. As constitutional officers, Newport News School Board members are responsible for setting educational policies, employing school personnel, providing buildings and equipment, operating a transportation system, dispersing school funds, among many other duties. Their job is not an easy one, but our school board is committed to serving our community

024and ensuring that students are given every opportunity to excel through education. Tonight, we salute our school board members. I'm going to ask each of them to come down to accept certificates of honor from Newport News Public Schools and the Virginia School Boards Association and a small token of our appreciation from the school division in recognition of their commitment and service on behalf of the students, staff, and citizens of Newport News and the Commonwealth of Virginia. So I'd like to call forth Chairman Lisa Searles-Law. Vice Chair Dr. Terry Best Board Member Maritza Alger and Board Member Rebecca Amen Board Member Douglas Brown Board Member Marvin Harris Board Member Gary Hunter and our student representative to the school board Aaron Lin Please join me in saluting the members of the Newport News School Board at this time

025We're going to take about a seven minute break or so. Don't hold us to seven minutes so that our guests From CNU our student presenters and their families may leave if you choose to do so You certainly can stay with us the rest of the evening. We'll be happy to have you President Kelly again. We want to thank you and your beautiful wife and The staff the wonderful staff has seen you for joining us this evening We recognize that you have a busy schedule So you're certainly welcome to leave during our break and during the break our viewing audience will have an opportunity to view this month's school board spotlight So we'll stand in recess for about seven minutes. Thank you For the 43rd year, young scientists from across Newport News Public Schools showcased their

026science projects at the All-City Science, Engineering and Technology Fair. Held at Woodside High School on a Saturday morning, 90 students in 6th through 12th grade put their impressive projects on display for families, staff and judges. These presentations represented the winning projects from science fairs held at each middle and high school across the city. At these schools, skilled and devoted science teachers assisted each student as they chose a topic to research, experiment, observe, and collect their data to present a logical conclusion. This type of hands-on learning allows students to thrive through high-level thinking and creative problem solving while exploring possible career opportunities. During the All-City Fair, student teams and individuals presented their findings while over 30 professional scientists, engineers, and educators judged the projects in multiple categories. With an increase of automated technologies and artificial intelligence

027across the globe, A new category was added this year, robotics and intelligent machines. Once all the scores were calculated, top winners in each category were honored. 32 first and second place winners also received an invitation to advance to the annual Tidewater Science and Engineering Fair in March, with the possibility of progressing to state and national competitions. Students at McIntosh Elementary learned firsthand that art can influence change. Community Creators in STEAM is a partnership with Arts for Learning along with financial support provided by Newport News Shipbuilding so that the entire experience was free for participating fifth grade students. Starting in October, almost 20 students stayed after school twice a week to explore social issues and brainstorm creative solutions through art and engineering. Student teams created prototypes of their designs focusing on cyberbullying, homelessness, and violence, before

028deciding to collaborate on a full-scale art installation about homelessness, with the comforts of home built completely out of recycled materials, including a bed and couch strong enough for adults to sit on. Students worked with Macintosh art teacher and residency steward Tiffany Murchison, along with teaching artists like James Cooper. Guest speakers offered insights into how families become homeless, while Newport News shipbuilding employees assisted students on engineering concepts. They also visited ODU's Brooks Crossing Innovation Lab to spend a day expanding their STEM knowledge. At the end of the 10-week residency in mid-December, students, families, educators, and community partners gathered at Downing Grove's Cultural Arts Center to unveil the three-dimensional art design to be on public display. Through community creators in STEAM, McIntosh students learned the strength of working in teams, the joy of developing friendships, and the

029satisfaction of inspiring others while exploring creative solutions to social issues that impact our community. In early January, fourth through twelfth grade students competed at the citywide regional archery tournament. In the massive gymnasium at Achievable Dream Middle and High School, 200 students representing 10 schools competed in teams and as individuals. Physical education teachers and administrators volunteered their time to ensure a smoothly run tournament. The student archers shot multiple flights from 10 and 15 meters to gain valuable points. This year's winners are Richneck Elementary, Ella Fitzgerald Middle, and Menchville High Schools. Richneck and Menchville have traditionally had top teams over the last few years, but this is Fitzgerald's first winning season as a team. For years, the National Archery in the Schools program has taught students across Newport News Public Schools the fun of archery in a

030safe learning environment. By participating in archery after school, students have better school attendance, positive behaviors, higher self-esteem, and an increased ability to stay on task. From here, the winning teams and other interested schools are invited to compete at the state tournament in Doswell, Virginia in March. Select high school students got the opportunity to explore the waters off historic Fort Monroe. In the fall, students enrolled in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate science courses were invited to join the James River Association for a series of engaging environmental trips. Over 100 students from four high schools and one alternative learning site participated in this immersive, hands-on learning experience, with each class spending a day on the water. Since AP and IB science classes are rigorous academic courses, students don't always get the opportunity for field experiences outside the

031classroom. On kayaks, educators with the James River Association guided students as they explored the beauty of the Chesapeake Bay watershed up close. Back on the shore, students tested the quality of the water and used seine nets to further explore the diverse marine life found in the shallow waters. These high school students applied their high level of thinking to the unique field trip while gaining valuable first-hand knowledge of the watershed to further their scientific knowledge. This past fall, student teams competed in a FIRST LEGO Robotics Tournament. Hosted at Crittenden Middle School, the annual Virginia and District of Columbia Regional Tournament featured student teams representing public and private schools, gifted centers, and home schools. Eleven elementary and middle schools from Newport News Public Schools competed, making up half of the regional tournament's participants. As early as August,

032robotics teams have been practicing with their LEGO robots, perfecting their coding skills and working together to masterfully maneuver their robot across the board to complete missions and gain valuable points. Teacher mentors and instructional technology coaches spend time after school working with interested students to help them succeed. Competing through FIRST LEGO Robotics teaches students how to problem solve, think creatively, and how to effectively work in a team setting with diverse personalities and ideas. At the regional tournament, schools are also scored on their team's core values, their robot design and their presentation of an innovation project where they solve a real-world challenge. Dutrow Elementary and Washington Middle School both placed first for their robot designs. And Discovery STEM Academy earned the Innovation Project Award and advanced to the state semifinals at James Madison University held in December.

033This is the third straight year that a team from Newport News Public Schools has performed well enough to move on to the state semifinals. Through this engaging and unique hands-on competition, students sharpen their STEM skills in a challenging, collaborative, and rewarding learning experience. In an ongoing effort to create a safe environment for all students and staff, Newport News Public Schools is adding an additional layer of security. NNPS has partnered with American Canine Interdiction, a veteran-owned dog training company based in Hampton Roads, to keep weapons and drugs out of our schools. Highly trained canine teams will visit schools and attend school events multiple times each month. During random visits to middle and high schools, the mobile odor detection canines will be visible in hallways during arrival in the morning and between class changes throughout the day.

034The dogs are trained to sniff out firearms, narcotics, and explosives, and are capable of isolating target odors in busy hallways. This type of detection doesn't require students to leave the classroom, so the visits won't interfere with the learning process. While highly effective at their job to find specific scents, these dogs are very sociable among people and students are welcome to approach and interact with the dogs and their handlers, who are mostly military and law enforcement veterans. But the K-9 teams are not law enforcement officers, so their singular focus is keeping students and staff safe. By combining highly effective and proactive canine teams with weapon detection systems, security officers in all schools, enhanced camera systems, and partnerships with local law enforcement, Newport News Public Schools continues to build a robust, multi-layered approach to keep our schools

035safe. I hope you enjoyed this month's school board spotlight. During our regular meetings, we provide time for the public to address the school board. These opportunities are scheduled in the early part of our agenda and towards the end of the meeting as well. As advertised, citizens may submit comments via email up to 30 minutes prior to our meeting time to be included in the official meeting record. For those of you joining us in person, the board considers this an opportunity to listen to your comments. Please understand that we will consider your concerns. We ask that you comply with our three-minute time limit. As you begin your comments, a green light will come on. A yellow light signals that you have 30 minutes remaining, and a red light and a beep indicates your time is up.

036As your name is called, please come forward. Reverend Natalie Chamberlain. Good evening, school board. I appreciate the opportunity to speak. And since this seems to be my place at school board meetings, my name is Reverend Natalie Chamberlain, and I am pastor at Hilton Christian Church, open and affirming, inclusive congregation. And before I start, I would like to ask how many of those in the audience are here to support rights of trans and other LGBT students? Thank you. The Trevor Project's 2023 U.S. National Survey on Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People amplifies the experiences of more than 28,000 LGBTQ young people ages 13 to 24 across the United States. This survey gives a voice to LGBTQ students at a time when their existence is unfairly at the center of national political debates and state legislatures have

037introduced and implemented a record number of anti-LGBTQ policies. For the fifth consecutive year, these data underscore that anti-LGBTQ btq victimization contributes to the higher rates of suicide risk reported by lg LGBTQ young people and that most who want mental health care are unable to get it. 41% of LGBTQ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year and young people who are transgender, non-binary and or people of color reported higher rates than their peers. 56% of LGBTQ young people who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to get it. Transgender and non-binary young people who reported that all of the people they live with respect their pronouns reported lower rates of attempting suicide. Fewer than 40% of LGBTQ young people found their home to be LGBTQ affirming. Roughly half of

038transgender and non-binary young people found that their school found their school to be gender affirming and those who did report lower rates of attempting suicide. A majority of LGBTQ young people reported being verbally harassed at school because people thought they were LGBTQ. Nearly one in three LGBTQ young people said their mental health was poor most of the time or always due to anti-LGBTQ policies and legislation. As a school board, you have the opportunity to be a beacon of hope for trans and other LGBTQ youth in the Newport News schools. I'm asking that you would do the right thing and reverse the policy changes. Ronald Lee. Good evening. Meet Max Benedict, a sophomore from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Max was forced to use the bathroom according to their sex assigned to birth. Next was speeding so badly at

039school they could not walk to the nurse's office. Neither the school resource officer nor the school administrators called an ambulance for them. Neither did they report the assault to local authorities. Nothing was done for Next. Why am I talking about this in Virginia? Well, culture and policy. Legislators in Oklahoma set out to ban books, to allow PragerU to design courses, dehumanize trans people, and control school boards. Youngkin started this process in Virginia, but was burdened by Democratic-cratic lawmakers who put up roadblock after roadblock to stop its agenda. The defeated bill secession serves as a good example of what would happen if they had control. However, it does not let us know how far they would go if they had no political opposition, as in Oklahoma. Outraged at the history revision standards last year, I spoke

040at one of the six public hearings that the Virginia Department of Education held. The meetings were held in rural white towns designed to avoid people of color from speaking. The board was supposed to vote on standards but one member could not find Williamsburg and got lost. He remained lost for five hours so we could not vote. They also cut speeding times from three minutes to 90 seconds so prepared speeches were useless. Did you know that the first slave ship landed at Point Comfort at Fort Monroe? You will learn about that in the 2025 history curriculum. The people who try to kill black, indigenous, and union history are the same people trying to erase LGBTQIA from public. Don't allow the fascists erasing our history and endangering our youth to corrupt your moral compass. Being a bystander,

041your diffusion of responsibility, defines the complete absence of leadership, and in this case, humanity. You ran for election to do the right thing. The right thing is hard sometimes. Make yourself uncomfortable and vulnerable to protect the ones with the smallest voices. You are serving the same monsters trying to whitewash the state. What is preventing your protection of LGBT youth? Is it state funding? Political protection? Religion? What is it? I know you guys care about children. I know you do. Build a culture of inclusion and respect for all. You guys have non-binary teachers. What message are you sending them? Someone on this board needs to call for a vote to separate your views from the bigoted agenda currently at play. Many of you are amazing humans. Let us know who you are. I believe in you.

042Take a vote. Don't depend on a court to make you do the right thing. By the way, Next died in the hospital on February 8th after having their heads slammed repeatedly into the bathroom floor because older girls were uncomfortable with a non-binary person using their bathroom. This is a culture and a policy problem. Trans rights are human rights. Thank you. Caitlin O'Brien. My name is Caitlin O'Brien. I'm here again as I've been here every month and will every month that I need to be. I'm a longtime resident of Newport News, graduated from Newport, and I'm here to speak to demand that you overturn this harmful policy. that is going to destroy the lives of youth like transgender youth like myself. If your desire was to avoid legal trouble, then ignoring Gavin Grimm versus Gloucester County

043ruling and the 2021 model policy actually passed by the General Assembly is not the correct answer. Ignoring the new ACLU lawsuit against Department of Education over this policy is not the answer. If your desire is to protect all students, then taking policies known to heighten risk against students statistically suffering massive rates of bullying and violence, including sexual violence targeting those vulnerable to being silenced, is not the answer. It is not only common, but a statistical norm for trans and gender non-conforming youth to suffer violence and or being thrown out of home by parents, something which, frankly, some of the words to this board by hateful supporters of the 2023 policy should have only further alerted elected members to. I did not become trans because of being molested at 13. Contrary to the disgusting 2021 email

044response by Doug Brown to my story, which the details were ignored of, I have not forgotten or overlooked your indifference to the suffering of those students this year, Doug Brown. The older 19-year-old Eagle Scout in my troop saw me trying on clothes at the mall and used my fear of being outed to make me be silent, and your 2021 response victimized me again. And I do feel that you should be publicly shamed for it, possibly out of office. My parents were not violently abusive people, not normally, but I was thrashed with a belt at age six for dressing differently. And those who don't feel safe talking to an adult at home should be able to talk to an adult professionally trained in children's needs at school without that child being outed and thrust into such

045trauma at an early age that also extends into sometimes relating to about 40% of homeless youth being LGBTQ. That is two out of five homeless minors. If you do not vote to overturn this harmful policy, we will not forget it, nor will we ever forgive you. I will be back next month as needed. Mary Voss. Mary Voss. Hello. Mary Voss, NNPS teacher and parent. As a member of the Newport News Education Association, I wanted to share that the NNEA is running a collective bargaining authorization card campaign to win contract negotiations for NNPS employees. Contract negotiations would give teachers and staff a seat at the table to negotiate our contracts. This would also benefit students, parents, administrators, and the community at large because educator working conditions are student learning conditions. Making teachers and staff part of

046decision making is very effective because employees on the ground often see problems early on and often have very effective ideas on how to solve them. Some examples of contract wins in school districts with contract negotiations include smaller class sizes, increased safety measures, seniority and job security, reducing unnecessary testing, more control over hours, consistency in leave, more prep time, purchases of necessary equipment, and more bathroom breaks. And you'll know that last one is very important if you've worked as a classroom teacher or substitute. I want to encourage any NNPS employees watching at home who want to help us win contract negotiations to please reach out to our NNEA President, Dr. James Graves, to myself, Mary Voss, or to our Collective Bargaining Committee Chair, Connor Collins. If you contact us by email after contract hours, we'd be

047happy to send you a link to your authorization card. Now I'm going to pivot and address another issue before the board. Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia announced that they have filed two lawsuits against Governor Youngkin's administration over his discriminatory model guidance that targets trans and other LGBTQ plus students. Protecting these students' rights at school is especially critical given the high risk of suicide among youths when their gender identity is not respected. The ACLU of Virginia has a strong track record of fighting successfully for trans student rights, such as in their lawsuit Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, in which Gloucester schools had to pay $1.3 million for discriminating against trans student Gavin Grimm in violation of Title IX and the U.S. Constitution. Now the ACLU has filed suit in York County

048and Hanover County. I'm hearing about another... lawsuit possible in Chesapeake. This is the perfect opportunity for the Newport News School Board to revisit this issue and correct course before an expensive lawsuit pops up here. I'm surprised that the board's legal counsel was concerned about a lawsuit from Youngkin's allies. but yet not similarly concerned about lawsuits from civil liberties groups and civil rights advocates. Youngkin's guidance is not legally binding, and most large urban districts across the state have ignored or outright rejected it for violating state and federal anti-discrimination laws. Please rescind this harmful policy. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. Reverend Michael Burnett. Madam Chair, Madam Vice Chair, members of the board, Dr. Mitchell. Thank you much for having us back. I'll echo Caitlin so far as to say we're gonna keep on

049coming back as long as we need to. I love what y'all have done. I love this city and overall I've been wildly impressed with Newport News Schools, but I'm can't help it. I'm gonna get a little real tonight. First off, a pragmatic piece. I know we're asking a lot. We're not just asking y'all to undo a now months established procedure and to put it to a vote when it's already on the books to introduce that much more bureaucracy to the situation. We're asking you to go against Richmond. And while I know, at least according to the NNEA report, that we likely need not fear legal reprisal from folks in Richmond, anyone who's ever navigated a budget committee meeting knows. You've got to keep the folks that hold your money happy. Grants, special projects, some of

050the wonderful things that we've heard of that we're doing here all have money coming from Richmond. There are thousands, possibly even six figures, I don't know, maybe millions of dollars at risk if we tick off the folks in Richmond. And I get that, and I know that's heavy, and I'm sorry you have to deal with that. But I want to pose a question to you tonight. Is Richmond going to have your back when things go wrong? I've got statistics in front of me. You've had them. You've heard them. I'm not going to show all of my work here, but suffice it to say, statistically speaking, given the number of probable trans kids in Newport News based on the law of averages, given the reported percentage of trans youth who attempt suicide in a year, which

051has increased when they have no affirming adults and increased even further when they're exposed to conversion therapy, as some of our opponents have so... politely referred to in the past. The odds are that about 22.2% or I'm sorry 22.2% of your trans students will attempt suicide this year. Odds are within the span of two years someone's going to complete suicide. One of your students. Because they feel like they cannot be who they are. If we were to give them the ability to have an affirming adult, and even better, if we were to give them gender-affirming care, you wouldn't have to worry about that past eight years. So if we're trying to kick the can down the road, wait for General Assembly 2026, wait for a different governor in the office, we're playing the odds. Because

052every month these policies are in place, we are leveraging the lives of the most vulnerable students among you. For the sake of projects and grants, which I know serve the students, but I really wish you would think about the most vulnerable students in your care. I really wish you would rethink these policies. Thank you. Gabri Marquez. I'd like to extend a good evening to the board. My name is Gabriel Marquez. I am the co-chair of the Todd Walter Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and I'm here to talk about civil liberties and trans rights. As you just heard, and I read it through The Independent, it was reported that a non-binary student by the name of Nex Benedict was murdered at their school by fellow students. They were assaulted by three other students on

053the 7th, and they died the next day, succumbing to their injuries. They were only 16 years old. In an interview with their grandmother, they attributed their murder and the bullying that preceded to the passage of the state laws banned the use of bathrooms that aligned with the gender that they ascribed to. These laws are similar to the policies that were adopted by this very board, which deliberately deprived trans and non-binary students of their dignity and compromises their safety at school and at home. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes segregation as follows. The separation or isolation of a race, class, or ethnic group by enforced or voluntary residence in a restricted area by barriers to social intercourse, by separate educational facilities, or by other discriminatory means. What do we establish here? What was established by the governor last

054year and is currently being perpetuated by this board through the adoption of these policies is a system of segregation within our schools. Now, this being Black History Month, I'd like to remind the board that Virginia's schools were segregated within living memory for some of the people here in this room. By adopting these laws, we relegate already marginalized groups to the status of second-class citizens and create the conditions for more violence like that which occurred in Oklahoma. I ask that the board repeal these policies post-haste. This segregation is a stain on our community and an attack on our collective civil liberties. Thank you. I'm here to ask the board to appeal the November 2023 changes to procedure J.B.P. that were inspired by Youngkin's model policy on trans students. I'm sad that there was no vote on

055those changes at the time, and I'm also upset that it is not included in today's laundry list of revisions of policies and procedures to be voted on. I want to draw attention to the misaligned priorities of procedure JVP where section 3D4 reveals that it's not students first, it's not even parents first, it's any anti-trans teachers first under the guise of the First Amendment. Despite statements in the procedures articulating a goal of advancing the well-being of every student, its predictable outcome is the opposite. Trying to reconcile opposition to the changes expressed personally and via email with the public position of silence by the board and its members. To avoid any bystander effects or analysis paralysis with which anyone could say anything at any time, I'm specifically going to ask my representative, Doug Brown, to motion during

056the generic agenda item seven comments by the school board to... Motion to set a date for voting on repeal of the changes at the April 16th work session. Thank you. Travis Woodall. Is it Chavez or Chavis? Karis. Karis. Sorry. Okay, that's okay. My name is Karis Woodall. I really appreciate you guys giving us the time to speak today. I'm speaking also on behalf of Tidewater DSA. I came all the way out from Virginia Beach just to see you guys. I have an open letter also followed by a petition that has currently been signed by 150 people. I only have 100 names listed. I will not be reading them out to you. This is the letter. We are the people of Newport News. We are transgender and cisgender people, students and teachers, families and allies. We

057respectfully request that the Board of Newport News Public Schools reverse the recent decision to adopt transphobic policies which require transgender students to be deadnamed and misgendered, outed to their parents or guardians without consent, and denied access to facilities and activities that match their gender identities. These policies can cause immense psychological harm to students who are already at risk due to the widespread discrimination and bigotry they endure. They also endanger students by requiring educators and counselors to reveal students' private information to potentially hostile families. These policies are widely unpopular among students, educators, parents, and the Newport News community. They are primarily being supported by an aggressive special interest group, which is deeply hostile to the desires of the people of Newport News. Finally, these policies contradict Virginia and United States law, as has been determined in

058numerous court cases, including Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board. Maintaining these policies is not just cruel and immoral, but also illegal. We, the undersigned, which is about 150 people, requests that the Newport New School Board allow transgender students to be referred to by their chosen names and pronouns, maintain privacy regarding their gender identities, unless or until the students consent to disclosure and access facilities and activities that match their gender identities. Thank you. Ash Chaknion. Good evening, Dr. Mitchell, members of the board. It's good to see you all again. I'm not going to do what I did last month and say something else. I'll just tell you. I'm here to talk about Governor Youngkin's LGBT policies again. It has now been three months since Dr. Mitchell unilaterally implemented Governor Youngkin's model policies. Three months of suffering

059for LGBT students in your care. The first time I spoke to you, I asked you to have empathy. The next time, I asked for courage. And last month, I asked you to imagine yourself or your child being told hateful, negative things. Today, though, I'm going to do something a little bit different. I'm going to talk about the positive aspects of being LGBT. As we all know, Valentine's Day was last week. It's a day to celebrate love and kindness and joy, as well as get an awful lot of candy for some of us, myself included. But it's not for everybody. It's not... Your students have been excluded from that. As I'm sure you all know, your implementation of these policies has singled out transgender kids in Newport News. I know you know because we've talked about

060it since December, since you implemented these policies. But we don't mention as much as how they target lesbian, gay, and bisexual students as well. It requires them to be forcibly outed as well. It tells queer kids that they don't belong, and in doing so, it makes it so they can't authentically be themselves. Think about when you were in high school and when you were a young adult. Think how exciting your first date was, how exhilarating it was to fall in love for the first time. Do you remember that feeling? I certainly remember that feeling. And it's something, it's one of the best feelings in the world. And it's feelings that queer people can have too. We get joy from our identities. We feel happy being able to express ourselves truly and authentically. I remember what

061it felt like realizing that I was bisexual, and I remember how elated I felt the first time I felt okay with that fact. Being accepted and loved as who I am is amazing. It was amazing. Some of my closest friendships were forged because of the support I received from my community. I also remember how exciting it was falling in love for the first time and knowing that it was okay for me to be in love. It's a feeling that you've taken away from a good number of your students. By forcing them to stay in the closet, forcing them to hide who they truly are. You've sabotaged one of the key experiences for young adults and made it harder for them to learn and grow as human beings. All the while, your cisgender and heterosexual students

062don't face these same hurdles. They're free to express themselves without fear of repercussion or fear for their safety. You've taken away a special day from your queer students. You've made a day that's supposed to be about love and joy and made it about othering hatred and fear. And my heart breaks for that fact. Thank you. We will now move on to Section 3, the Consent Agenda, which includes 3.01, minutes from the special meeting, January 16, 2024. 3.02, minutes from the regular meeting, January 16, 2024. 3.03, minutes from the work session, January 16, 2024. 3.04 financial reports including the revenue report for January 2024, the expense report for January 2024, the child nutrition reports for January 2024. 3.05 the personnel report. 3.06 the budget transfer. 3.07 easement requests. 3.08 revised 2023-2024 school board meeting calendar. At

063this time, can we have a motion to approve the consent agenda? Madam Chair, I move to approve the consent agenda as presented. Do I have a second? second okay I'd like to comment on the need to revise the 2023-24 school board meeting calendar to adjust our budget presentation meeting that was scheduled for March 5th to March 4th To accommodate the state of the city address that will occur on March 5th at the Freeman Center on the campus of CNU at 630 at the Fieldhouse We hope that everyone is able to join us and support and celebrate our city Any questions before we call the roll? Madam clerk, please call the roll for Four. Four. Thank you. The next item on our agenda is Section 4, Action Items. On the agenda this evening is 4.01, New

064and Revised Policies. Dr. Mitchell, do you have comments? I just have brief comments. If you recall, last month, Ms. Tracy Brooks presented several new and revised policies to you, and Ms. Brooks is here if you have any questions. Board members. Do you have questions? It was about 22 policies that we're going to take those in in blocks the first set of policies that we will Put up for approval our policies resulting from recent state legislation We have DB the annual operating budget GB GAA tuberculosis certificate IHBF homebound instruction, IKF graduation requirements, JEA compulsory attendance, and JFAA admission of resident students. Do I have a motion? Madam Chair, I move to approve the policies. Do I need to read each one? No, you can just say resulting from. resulting from the recent state legislation. Okay. Do

065I have a second? Second. Okay. Any discussion? Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Mrs. Alger? Four. Mrs. Amon? Four. Dr. Best? Four. Mr. Brown? Four. Mr. Harris? Four. Mr. Hunter? Four. Mrs. Searles-Law? Four. Motion carries 7-0. The next set are policies that support Newport News Public Schools best practices. We have three in this category. ADF student and staff wellness IKFB participation in commencement ceremony and JID voter registration do I have a motion madam chair I move that policies that support Newport News public schools best practices second okay any comment madam chair I'm just very very excited tonight that it's a culmination of multiple years of effort that we are going to have a registration as a as an official policy that we're encouraging our students to be citizen ready I think that's really important and

066I think it's it's great that we are as a division acknowledging the importance of students engaging civically and also I'm pleased that we're creating the requirement for safety at our graduations that you have to adhere some safety standards before being able to walk across the stage and that going across the stage is a privilege it is yes any other comments Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Mrs. Alger? For. Mrs. Amon? For. Dr. Best? For. Mr. Brown? For. Mr. Harris? For. Mr. Hunter? For. Mrs. Searles-Law? For. Motion carries 7-0. The next set of policies, we'll take them in four blocks. They are policies in review of policy chapter C, our general school administration. So we'll call the first one block one. That includes CA, administration goals. CAB, planning for the school division. CB, appointment and term

067of the superintendent. and CBI evaluation of the superintendent do I have a motion madam chair I move to approve the policies and review of policy chapter C general school administration block 1 do I have a second second thank you any discussion Please call the roll mrs. Alger or mrs. Amen. Dr. Best or mr. Brown for mr Harris or mr. Hunter or mrs. Searles law for motion carries 7-0 Thank you and block what we will refer to as block 2 includes CC administrative organization CCC staffing guidelines CE administrative committees do I have a motion? Madam chair, I move to approve block two under policies in review of policy chapter C general school administration Thank you. Do I have a second? Second, thank you any discussion Please call the roll. Mrs. Alger for mrs. Amen or dr.

068Best or mr. Brown for mr Harris or mr. Hunter or mrs. Searles law for motion carries 7-0 The next set of policies includes two policies, CH policy implementation and CHD administration in the absence of policy. May I have a motion for this being block three? Madam Chair, I move to approve block three under policies and review of policy chapter C, general school administration. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you any discussion Madam chair. I want to make the comment that I believe in this block policy CH is really the the star of the The unfortunate star of the last couple of months in confusion that the public has had in regards to our current transgender procedures that we have in place and that The existence of this policy is puts the board in a

069position where we have adopted a procedure, but we have not taken a vote. And I think that it is, while we didn't put this policy in place, it's been in place for a very long time. In my own research and talking to other board members around the state, Newport News is unique in having a policy like this where we grant the superintendent unilateral authority to write a procedure without... adoption by the board without a vote by the board and so for that reason I don't think that this policy should continue because if this policy wasn't in place then it will allow us to to have a formal vote and to be transparent to the to the community to the public in regards to how we what we what we think about the the procedures so

070because this has been to me this is the the bugaboo that is causing issues I think that it should be overturned Any other comments? Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I think sometimes there are procedures that are extremely detailed that are very much operating procedures that may or may not rise to the level of school board approval. But I think it... What may make a lot of sense is sometimes that makes sense for the procedures to be approved and submitted as a war for information purposes But it might be ideal to have sort of a trigger in there that if there's something of significant concern The board could elect to bring the procedures up for a vote because there are some very detailed nuanced procedures dealing with benefits and leave and that We may

071not, it may make more sense for the HR professionals to get into those jobs, but some sort of a mechanism might be ideal. Okay. Madam Chair, I'd like to make a further contextual comment that if we were to turn down this policy this evening, that does not remove the policy that we actually have in place. Business can continue as usual, but I think it would be the proper signal to go back to our policy committee and bring forward a policy that would support. current needs of the board I'll just piggyback on that and say I think from my perspective we could continue but then we can always revisit this with an amendment or something okay give time for wordsmithing okay so what I'm hearing and we will go ahead and take it to a vote

072is that we send it back to committee so that it can be revised So we'll go ahead and take our vote on it. And if we vote no, then it will go back to the committee at that point. Is that what I'm understanding? Okay. I was going to say, if we vote no, would that revoke the policy? We wouldn't have it to operate. Are we amending? I don't think we're going to amend it now. We don't have the language to do so. We could not vote on these two this evening. That's... I think what I'm hearing from my board is that you all would prefer us to work on these two policies a little bit more before we actually actually vote or do you want to vote the way I mean or if the will

073of the board the majority wants to take it back and look at it maybe amended motion Is what we take it back to the mm-hmm? Yep, so if somebody willing to make an amended motion for us to Take that one back to committee before we vote on it. I will I'll move to amend the motion amend the motion to amend to the motion to send it back to committee for consideration for modification to include a tool the board could use if it so shows I'll second that motion to amend any further discussion so I have a amendment on the floor and a second no further discussion so we'll call the roll So I hear amendment to send block three including CH and CHD back to the policy committee. Okay. So we'll call the roll. Ms.

074Alger? For. Ms. Amon? For. Dr. Best? For. Mr. Brown? For. Mr. Harris? For. Mr. Hunter? For. Mrs. Searles-Law? For. Motion carries 7-0. Okay, thank you. And is that a, that's an amendment to, that's a motion to amend. So now we have to vote on the motion, which is to send it back to committee now. Okay, so now, yeah, so now we need to vote on sending it back. Okay, do I have a motion to send it back to committee? Yes, sir, I'll make the motion to send it back to committee. Okay, and do I have a second to send it back? And now do I have any further discussion? Please call the roll. Amen. Seconded. Who seconded? I'm sorry. Dr. Best did. Ms. Alger? Four. Mrs. Amen? Four. Dr. Best? Four. Mr. Brown? Four. Mr.

075Harris? Four. Mr. Hunter? Four. Mrs. Searles-Law? Four. Motion carries 7-0. Okay, that takes care of what was to be block three. We are on to block four. There are four policies CK administrative consultants CM school division annual state report CMA school division community report and see in administration of Epinephrine Do I have a motion? Madam chair. I move to approve block 4 under policies and review of policy chapter C general school administration Thank you. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you. Any discussion? Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Mrs. Alger? For. Mrs. Amon? For. Dr. Best? For. Mr. Brown? For. Mr. Harris? For. Mr. Hunter? For. Mrs. Searles-Law? For. Motion carries 7-0. Thank you the next item on our agenda is 4.0 to elementary English 5k instructional materials, dr. Mitchell. Do you have an

076update for us? I do if you recall miss Sean one Thomas last year presented to you a Recommendation to use a particular instructional tool, but we needed to wait for this to see if it was on the VDOE's list. Then we came back to you this year to let you know it was in fact on the VDOE list and Ms. Lori Wald did a presentation last month to share with you an update and so today we are asking that you will take action on the instructional materials which is benchmark advance. again it is on the Virginia Department of Education list approved list okay so may I have a motion to approve the elementary English 5k instructional materials I'm mad I make a motion that we improve the English 5k elementary school materials do I have

077a second second great any discussion madam chair I just like to to ask because at the time there was There was some time between the time that we approved and the time that VDOE put out the guidance and we've had a lot of revisions to our curriculum in the meantime so the just the three questions that I wanted to like to get some assurance of is one do we have if should we approve this tonight do we have the books in hand to provide to teachers or how quickly do we have the books in hand to provide to teachers so they have it to in terms of revisions to curriculum how quickly or how closely does this align to the revisions that we have made And then three is just because there's been the change

078of what books are approved and what ones are not, and this creates some churn for us in terms of just, I feel like I'm in the book buying cycle constantly. How long do we anticipate that these books potentially will be good for, given we've invested a lot of time and energy into changes in our curriculum? Alright, Dr. Kit Rogers is coming forward. I don't even have to answer the question. I think I tried to write him down. First was how soon are we able to get the books, is that correct? Yes, that's correct. It's an instruction, they're instruction resources, so. The primary resource is digital, so those digital resources will be updated. There are some print materials that come with it, but that is included with the cost of the resources itself. So whatever refreshment

079we would need to provide to students, we would have access to those. If I'm not mistaken, we agreed on, Lloyd Wallace, he has a six-year contract. Is it six? Four-year, okay. Generally, it's six years. With traditional textbooks, they've been six years. With this resource, it's a four-year resource that we would be using. So at the end of the third year, we start negotiations about whether or not we would continue that one or whether or not we would look for an additional resource. So that's the first question. The second question is how soon would we be able to have access to those. Is that correct? Correct. That was the second one. So the team is already poised to set this up. Essentially waiting for the vote so we would have pretty much immediate access to those

080resources right now. We would not put those resources in the hands of the teachers to begin to utilize because right now as you know we're utilizing the Hampton City Schools curriculum. However, the team would certainly begin leveraging those resources right now to be prepared to use those for next school year. So we anticipate being able to work with that relatively soon. to embed those into the curriculum that we will use next year. And then the third question, and I was writing fast, but not fast enough before I got up here, so if you don't mind, refresh me what that third question was. With the revisions we've made to our curriculum, how quickly can we get our curriculum aligned to this set of resources, or is the set of resources already aligned to the curriculum that

081we've made? So right now, the curriculum that we're using is the Hampton City Schools curriculum, and right now we've adopted a resource that Hampton City Schools has not yet. adopted so we will continue to evaluate where we are right now as we've done with the Hampton City Schools curriculum we will use the best data that we have available to us and look for additional data and make that decision as we close out the spring okay Rebecca just to piggyback off of that do we think What we're using now and this new resource will work together is the thought to shift totally? Well, the resource is the resource and you can embed it into the resource that we currently have right now. So that the thought. Every school division in the state of Virginia has to

082adopt a new resource. So whether or not we have benchmark advance or whether we decided to continue to use what Hampton City Schools will adopt when they adopt. So it's a little bit of a planning game. We're a little bit ahead of the curve right now in front of Hampton City Schools because they've not yet adopted the resource that they will use. But either way, we will still. partner with Hampton City Schools to talk about what that looks like for Newport News. And we will certainly use the best data that we have available to us, the best resource that we have available to us. Our team is poised to be ready to shift to the resource that we've just adopted to embed that in our existing curriculum. And again, it's an instructional resource. It's not

083the curriculum. Other comments? And I would say I think it's important to note that the work, the heavy lifting, if there is some, is not on the teachers. Correct. It would be your team that would make sure that it's embedded and aligned. Absolutely. Not the teachers. So I think I heard the answer to what was going to be my query was how soon will it be implemented and it's really for next year. The resource, we will begin using a resource with students next school year, 2024-25 school year. Because I have had concern from constituents worried that we were hearing there was a change upon us this school year. And I knew that we were more sensitive than that. because it was a hard change at the very beginning, too, to make that decision. And this

084board was behind you to make that decision. So hats off to you and your team. But the real lift, too, has been from our teachers. And we really do appreciate them doing it with your leadership. Absolutely. Appreciate it. Thank you. I had one more. Yes. I do. And this is sort of more for those that aren't. education professionals, parents, grandparents who maybe think, I got an English textbook, so that's what I learned from. How does the resource in the curriculum, how do they intersect? Can you sort of explain? So that's a really good question. So the instructional materials resource that we're leveraging is primarily digital, which means that students have access to so print-rich resources, however they're not in the print. hard copy format, not all of them. We have some opportunities for students to

085use what we refer to as trade books or small little light books. What do they call it, Lori? It's a little consumable material. So they will have opportunities to have hard copies. But in terms of carrying the eight-pound textbooks and the book bags, the clear book bags that we have, we just don't have access to it. The benefit of having an instructional resource that's digital is that they can update it with just-in-time materials, materials that are in the now that are very much related to multicultural. This is Black History Month, and you might have an opportunity for students to read a resource that's connected to that. resources connected to current events so it gives them an opportunity to have access to those resources and we can embed them directly into the curriculum that we have

086right now in a just-in-time manner. Thank you very much. Thank you. So that was our discussion. Any further discussion please call the roll. four four four four four motion carries 7-0 thank you it's been a long time coming so we'll move on to section 5 we have two reports this evening reports and information 5.01 human resources annual update Dr. Mitchell, who do we have with us? Thank you very much. Tonight we have Ms. Nina Farish, Director of Human Resources, and as you stated, she is coming for a Human Resources update where she will share some information with you and even shed some light on some data. Thank you, Ms. Farish. Yes, thank you. Good evening, Madam Chair Searles-Law, Vice Chair Dr. Best, board members, and Dr. Mitchell. This evening I'm going to share the annual

087Human Resources update. The Human Resources initiatives come under our strategic goal stewardship of resources. We strive to establish processes and procedures to recruit, hire, reward, and retain highly effective staff all directed toward helping our students become college, career, and citizen ready. Tonight, I will cover instructional turnover, hiring trends, and staffing initiatives, support staff vacancies and staffing initiatives, and recruitment initiatives. Over the years, we have had a seemingly high turnover of teachers. The 2023-2024 data is as of this month. Also this month, we sent out our intent forms so that we can gauge which teachers and other staff intend to retire or resign at the end of the school year. We anticipate a similar trend as in previous years. While this looks alarming, I would like to note as seen here, it has also been our

088historical trend to hire hundreds of teachers each year. The number of hires for any given year will not match the resignation's retirements from the previous year. This is because allocations change each year, typically trending down due to student counts. Teacher shortages continue, and we also carry over unfilled vacancies from the previous year. We are still recovering from prior year's staff exits. For example, we hired 326 teachers for the 2022-23 school year. We had 263 that exited the year before. It would appear that we hired an additional 63 teachers. However, based on the previously reported 153 vacancies in February of 2023, an additional 63 positions were not enough. In continuing this thought line, for the 2023-24 school year, we hired approximately 90 associate teachers to fill some of the vacancies. Without these positions, we would have

089had hired just over 200 teachers, which shows that the licensed teacher pool continues to decrease. Additionally, the Virginia Department of Education has reported for the state of Virginia In 2019-2020, there were 1,063 unfilled teacher positions. As of April 2023, there were 3,573 unfilled teacher positions. The Associate Teacher Program provides a good illustration for why Grow Your Own programs are becoming increasingly important. Some of the staffing initiatives for the 2023-24 school year to help fill the vacancies include using university instructors, long-term substitutes, new teacher sign-on bonuses, and employee teacher referral bonuses. We hired 34 teachers through the referral program. As part of our staffing plan, we have leveraged our Grow Your Own initiatives, including Emerging Teachers. This year, the Governor of Virginia recognized us for our innovative staffing using Associate Teachers. Associate Teachers hold a bachelor's

090or master's degree and serve as teachers for one school year in an elementary or secondary school as they work to complete their licensure requirements. Associate teachers earn a salary and are eligible for benefits. We also work with instructional assistants, substitute and teacher candidates who want to become fully licensed teachers, working with each individual to provide practicums, observation hours, and tuition reimbursement or paid internships that support them doing their programs. Our Emerging Teacher Program also includes alternative routes to licensure like Career Switcher and iTeach. We currently have ODU and Regent University career switchers serving in our classrooms. iTeach is a non-college program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation focused on offering aspiring educators an accessible and affordable route to full licensure. Currently, we have approximately 25 teachers enrolled. Teacher Apprenticeship Program. This year,

091we increased the Grow Our Own programs, adding the teacher apprenticeship program, TAP. In November 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship approved K-12 teaching as an apprenticeable occupation. TAP creates a new way to develop our teacher pipeline and to prepare instructional assistants with associate degrees the opportunity to gain full teacher licensure and division employment as teachers within two years for free. We were awarded $200,000 from the Virginia Department of Education to implement our first cohort. Our first cohort of eight future teachers started classes in January. Five are attending Mary Baldwin University and will earn special education K-12 general curriculum endorsements. The other three will receive elementary endorsements. From Averitt University, the grant-funded program creates a pipeline for apprentices to earn free bachelor's degrees in two years, become certified and hard-to-staff positions, and participate

092in a multi-year residency experience while being a full-time employed instructional assistant, earning a salary and benefits. Teacher apprentices commit to teaching in our division for three years after successfully completing the program. Additionally, we were notified last week we also received an additional $114,422 from the same grant to use for the current cohort and to start a new cohort in the fall. This year we placed 56 student teachers and 100 practicum and student observers These future teachers learn from our very best teachers and engage with with our students our practicum and student observers will dedicate over 4,000 hours in our classrooms by May We continue to partner with Christopher Newport University to host Student Teacher University, offering future teachers the opportunity to learn about engaging diverse learners, using instructional technology, implementing successful classroom management strategies, and

093building strong student-teacher relationships. We are proud to place 99% of Christopher Newport University student teachers. We hire an average of 41% of them annually. This is our seventh year of implementing our Teachers in Residence TIR program. We partner with ODU, CNU, and William & Mary to provide scholarships for master's degree programs and paid year-long internships. After completing the master's degree program and residency, TIRs receive full licensure and are committed to teaching in Newport News for three years. Since 2017, we had a total of 85 teachers through the TIR program. Additionally, we have been in continual conversations with Norfolk State University about the TIR program. We are hopeful we will have future reports on a partnership with Norfolk State. We also had hard to fill support staff vacancies. Here is a comparison of where we were

094this time last year with vacancies and where we are today. We have made improvements in filling these positions and we can continue to recruit for these vacancies throughout the year. I'd like to note for our bus drivers, we have budgeted approximately 324 bus drivers, and as you can see, we've made great strides where we've gone from 76 down to currently 56. Some of our recruitment efforts, initiatives for 2023-24 for bus drivers, we did offer a sign-on bonus for new hires and an employee referral bonus program. And, of course, we continue to offer our $20.16 an hour with no experience. Additional recruitment initiatives include social media, retiree solicitation, international recruitment, job fairs, walk-in interviews, and military partnerships. We have a new military partnership with Hiring Our Heroes, a U.S. Chamber of Commerce foundation. They have a

095fellowship program. The program allows existing military members an opportunity to work in a position related to their skills and talent. If the fellowship is a success, both the employer, Newport News, and existing military members is offered, given a formal offer. I'm proud to say we do have one member thus far through this program, and that member is in the HR department. This concludes the Human Resources Update. I want to thank every member of the Human Resources staff for their hard work and dedication, and I'm happy to answer any questions. Any specific questions at this time? Yeah, I'm just curious. In terms of the numbers, child nutrition in August had 22 vacancies and then it dropped to six. What do you attribute that to? Our job fairs that we are continually having have been very successful,

096and that honestly is what I contribute to. Okay. And then the other thing, the internship, I think it's great. I remember when I became a teacher. You know, I had to leave my job, go do my internship, and didn't have an extra income. But now we have paid internships, which is great. Yes. How much are the interns getting per year? So depending upon the program they're under, if they're currently our instructional assistants with us, then they maintain their instructional assistant salary. Okay. Yes, ma'am. And if they're not, if they're coming? So if they come in from the outside, then we would hire them in as an instructional assistant if that's the role they're going to be in. Or if they come in as an associate teacher, they receive a higher rate as the associate teacher.

097Okay. All right. Thank you. You're welcome. Quick question. Yeah, I think it's a good one. Go ahead. Just a quick question. I know it's early. When will we be getting a feel for, like, in the attrition or, you know, how this year's gone versus past years and stuff? So we are currently in discussions right now about allocations. So what we can do, I can provide some numbers. We're starting to have those discussions and we'll maybe by March have a little bit of better indication of what our resignations and retirements were from the intent forms and what we're looking at for next year. And Mr. Harris. Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I'm biased toward the military, of course. But I think I've seen the increases. I mean, it's a wealth of knowledge of young individuals,

098highly motivated talent, not just in Fort Eustis, but, you know, throughout the whole region. Truth to teachers, you know, I'm still a big advocate of that. I think you still, you know. You actually you know participate in that program. So I don't know if they got scared away We won't be teachers or not, but they are being recruited in a lot of the places, you know So just just stay at that Absolutely. We found a lot of success with them for our support staff position. Right? Okay. We appreciate that. Thank you You're welcome. We really appreciate your report this evening. I It was of note to me how the homegrown section has greatly increased during these turbulent times. So thank you for your work and attention in that space. Thank you. Okay, we'll move on

099to 5.02, 2024-2025 proposed school calendar. Dr. Mitchell, who do we have with us? We have Ms. Tracy Brooks, who comes every year, otherwise known as the calendar girl. And we know that this is something that staff really wait for because they want to... Am I right? right they want to know what the proposed calendar looks like and i i say propose right yes because you do have the opportunity to have input so Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Mitchell. Good evening, Madam Chairman, Madam Vice Chairman, members of the school board, and Dr. Mitchell. I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to share highlights of our division-wide calendar being proposed for next school year. But before I review the calendar, and for the sake of the viewing audience, I'd like to speak briefly about the team

100that developed the draft calendar, the process we used, and the factors that we considered in planning the calendar that is before for you this evening. Now the draft calendar is the work of the calendar committee that consists of elementary and secondary teachers, administrators, parents, and representatives from our instructional areas and our support services who provided valuable input on the draft and they will continue to work over the next several weeks to revise the calendar as needed. And I would like to take a moment to thank the committee members for their hard work and striving to balance the various needs of our students, our staff, our families in developing the calendar draft. Now this slide shows our calendar planning process which actually began with meetings with the six school divisions in the peninsula last fall. We

101incorporated recommendations along with the input we received from our own calendar committee to develop the draft that we are sharing with you this evening. We've posted the draft on our school divisions webpage for public feedback and will continue to reach out to the PTA and to our employees, student and community advisors. groups for their input through March when the calendar will come back before the school board for approval. Now there are several factors that we considered in planning the calendar. First and foremost is the instructional program. So we developed a calendar that will support our work in preparing our students to graduate college, career, and citizen ready. Then we base the calendar on the state requirement of a minimum of 990 in-person instructional hours per year, which we will exceed, especially given up to 10

102inclement weather days can now be counted as virtual learning days, since we provide a device for every student. Now, once we had our student days in place, we added teacher work days, planning days, and opportunities for professional development for up to 200 days for teachers as required by the state code. And lastly, we worked within a 245-day contract or appointment period for our 12-month employees. So for next school year, we are moving back to being more consistent among the six peninsula school divisions. We will all open pre-Labor Day on Monday, August 26th, according to the drafts that our neighboring school divisions have shared with us thus far. And just as a reminder, under the state code, school divisions that open prior to Labor Day must also close schools on the Friday before the holiday weekend.

103calendar proposal reflects that schedule as well. And while we have many requests to have schools closed for the entire week of Thanksgiving, all school divisions will have schools in session on the Monday and Tuesday of that week on November 25th and 26th. Now next year, all Peninsula school divisions will be observing a two-week winter break from Monday, December 23rd through Friday, January 3rd of 2025. And in terms of spring break, all six school divisions on the Peninsula will continue to observe the break as the first Monday through Friday in April, which will be April 7th through the 11th next year. Now there were three key calendar considerations at the forefront of the committee's work on next year's draft, and they were first, to maximize time for students to receive high quality instruction. So we are

104increasing the number of student days from 176 this current year to 178 days for next year. Second, we continue to include time for teachers to plan instruction throughout the year and to take advantage of professional development opportunities. So while next year's calendar reduces teacher planning time by one day and professional development by a half day during the year, it does build in 10 pre-service and teacher work days at the beginning of the school year in August for new teachers and seven days for returning teachers. And third, we consider the impact of half days on student attendance and our families, since our data show that daily absences trended to peak on half days, and attendance matters for instruction and is also a factor in school accreditation. So this current school year, we have three half-day dismissals

105for secondary students and five half-day dismissals for elementary students, which we are reducing to only two half days for all students next year prior to June. And now I'd like to share highlights from the proposed calendar. In August, our new teachers will report on Monday the 5th and returning teachers and teacher assistants will report on Thursday, August 15th. And as mentioned earlier, the first day for students will be Monday, August 26th. On October 11th, schools will be closed for students so that teachers will have a half day for professional development in the morning with family conferences in the afternoon. And then looking at November, the 5th is a presidential election day and will be an e-commute teacher work day to close out the first marking period. And later in the month, schools will be closed

106on Wednesday through... on Wednesday through Friday, November 27th through the 29th for the Thanksgiving observance with a half day for 12-month employees on the 27th to meet their contractual obligation. Now, as we enter 2025, and based on the positive feedback from teachers last month, we continued the teacher planning day for the day after the winter break ends, which will be on Monday, January 6th, with students reporting on January 7th. And at the end of the first semester, Monday, January 27th, will be a teacher and support staff work day. And Tuesday, January 28th, will be a full day for professional development, which is consistent. with the other school divisions on the peninsula. Now in February, students and school-based staff will observe President's Day on the 17th with schools closed, but 12-month employees will report. And as

107I mentioned earlier, spring break will continue to be observed as the first week in April which will be the 7th through the 11th for all Peninsula school divisions and like this current school year we have designated a teacher planning day for the day after spring break ends which will be Monday April 14th with students returning on Tuesday April 15th. And in closing out the year, the calendar schedules graduation ceremonies for Saturday and Sunday, June 7th and 8th. And next year, we will end the school year a day earlier on Tuesday, June 10th as the last day for students and Wednesday, June 11th as the last workday for teachers. So in closing, I'd like to share a few key points regarding the pros calendar for next year. First, schools will open before the Labor Day holiday

108on Monday, August 26, as will all Peninsula school divisions. Second, our draft maintains a two-week winter break that aligns with our neighboring school divisions. Third, the draft calendar includes a teacher planning day for the day after the winter and spring breaks end on January 6 and August 14. And next school year will end a day earlier than that. this school year on Tuesday, June 10th. And lastly, the number of instructional hours in the draft calendar exceeds the 990 instructional hours required by the state code. So this is a visual representation of the 2024-25 calendar. It includes our grading periods in the box in the lower left-hand corner, and to the right of it are the religious observances that occur during the school week, as well as a calendar key for our early dismissals, our staff

109development and teacher planning days, and our holiday observances. So in terms of our next steps, we will continue to solicit feedback from the community on the proposed calendar through a link to the calendar on our school and division web pages with the opportunity for viewers to ask questions or post suggestions. And based on that feedback, we will revise the draft if needed. And then the final draft will come before the School Board for Action at your March 19th monthly meeting. And once approved, we will publicize the calendar through our school newsletters and our electronic communications such as news break news lines and board briefs and on our school websites and on the school divisions web page so this concludes my report this evening I'll be happy to answer your questions or to note your suggestions

110thank you any board members have any questions at this time yes yes what's the difference between a workday and a teacher planning day A teacher work day versus a planning day? The teacher work day is typically at the end of the marking period where they do grades for the marking period this semester. And the planning day is when they, of course, can plan for upcoming instruction. It's the opportunity for larger groups to get together, the ELC, to work with your team, a little bit more time without having students and time constraints. Okay. And then the other thing that I was asking in terms of, and I know it's not in here, the assessment pieces, like the end of the year, the SOLs, in terms of mid-year and all of that. And this is just me

111thinking out loud. Sometimes I think the planning is better when it comes behind those assessment pieces to allow for that collaboration. So I'm just putting that out there. And we do have a separate assessment calendar. Right. But I understand what you're saying in terms of looking at the timing of when. there's a planning time connected, if you will, right behind the assessment. Right. And it's just, I don't know, I just think it's wiser to plan that way if we know in terms of when those assessments are coming into play. Well, thank you for that feedback, and I think that when you have another calendar committee or when we meet with the teacher advisory committee, it would be interesting to hear from the teachers to see if the teachers feel like that would be something that

112they think would be more advantageous. I'm assuming that other board members have heard from some teachers regarding the calendar and I've been very very pleased that we are getting that community input. I know the elementary teachers have been letting me know that they are reaching out to you and I yes, I appreciate you fielding their questions individually I do appreciate that Any other questions at this time? Okay. Thank you so much miss Brooks. We thank you your time Okay, we're going to get me to get in the right spot here. There we go. So now we're going to, you guys have the attendance report in 5.03, 5.04, the membership report in 5.05, the construction report. Board members, do you have, you've received a copy of this. Does anyone have any questions at this time? then

113we'll go to dr. Mitchell's comments well good evening and thank you madam chair I do want to personally acknowledge and thank our dedicated school board members for their work on behalf of public school in our city and I do want to thank the board members for your commitment and your support to students families and staff in Newport News public schools and to the miss Moore Buffalo Thank you for all of your dedicated service to the school board and to our school division. I think it's important for us to recognize that February is Career and Technical Education Month. So I do want to take a moment to thank all of our CTE educators. Our CTE educators actually lead more than 70 courses. that prepare our students to earn industry certifications and marketable job skills. So we

114want to thank you for ensuring that our students are college, career, and citizen ready. We do want to congratulate two of our CTE educators, and you can see them on the screen. Tonette Outland, she is our CTE instructional supervisor. And then Dr. Carrington Falk, who is a marketing teacher and a DECA advisor at Heritage High School. They were among the selectees of the 2024 Association for Career and Technical Educational National Leadership Fellowship Program. The fellowship program enhances participants' leadership and professional and policy skills. So we want to congratulate both Mrs. Outland and Dr. Falk. I know Ms. Bridget Adams is here tonight, and we want to acknowledge that the Youth Development Department hosted the fourth annual RISE Male Empowerment Conference on February the 10th at Heritage High School. Nearly 300 young men in grades 6

115through 12 connected with mentors and spent the day participating in empowerment sessions focused on topics including positive self-image, accountability, leadership, and the importance of mental health. I do want to have special thanks to Congressman Bobby Scott, Mayor Phillip Jones, City Councilman Cleon Long, board members Dr. Best, Mrs. Alger, Mr. Hunter, and the dozens of male mentors for their participation and support. Our STEM instructional team also hosted our Sea of Light Engineering Design Challenge on February the 2nd at Newsome Park Elementary. Teams comprising of fourth and fifth grade students from each elementary school participated in the challenge, which required them to work together to build a lighthouse with a light beam shining onto a predetermined spot. Congratulations to Richneck for earning first place, Yates for taking second place, and General Stanford Elementary School for earning third

116place. And a special thank you to the U.S. Coast Guard for serving as the community partner for this event. Newport News Public Schools students raised more than $18,000 for the United Way of the Virginia Peninsula's 2024 campaign. Again, that was our students that raised more than $18,000. It does support local organizations who serve our community. Student representatives from each school announced their school's fundraising total and presented checks to the United Way officials at the celebration on February 2nd. The event was hosted by Chief Operations Officer Rusty Fairhart. Congratulations to all of our students for their generous contributions. You have until Friday, February 23rd, to visit the Citywide Youth Art Show. On view at Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center, the gallery showcases artwork from students representing every one of our schools. The admission is free. It's

117a wonderful activity to take your family to. Please take some time to view the great works of our student artists. And I know that was a lot, but as Mr. Hunter always says, great things are happening in Newport News, and we want to share them. So, Madam Chair, that concludes my comments and remarks this evening, and thank you. thank you so much uh so we'll move on to item six another opportunity to hear from the public are there any cards no ma'am great we cannot let this evening go by uh noting that we are whole again mr hunter we are very happy to have you back among us so welcome and uh we've got lots of work for us all to do so we're glad you're back All right, we will now hear from our

118school board representative, Mr. Aaron Lin. Thank you, Madam Chair. At our superintendent student advisory group meeting next week, we will discuss the student dress code and the cell phone policy. There are five of us students who serve on the school division's student rights and responsibilities advisory committee. And we plan to share the thoughts of Sage students at the committee's next meeting to help with updating the Students' Rights and Responsibilities Handbook that will come before the school board in the spring. Thank you. Wow, thank you in advance for that work you're going to do for us. Well, early this evening, we got some very disheartening news that we have lost one of our students to a medical event at one of our high schools. So I am going to ask that we leave this evening in

119quiet observance. This meeting is adjourned.