001Are you embarrassing your daughter? Good evening everyone. Thursday, March 12, 2026. Regular meeting in Nottoway County School Board. Now called to order. We shall have a moment of silence followed by a prayer if you so choose. And then if you are able, please stand for our Pledge of Allegiance. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you tonight for this day and for this moment in time. Thank you tonight for allowing our school board to come together to conduct this business. Thank you for our superintendent, our clerk. Thank you for our staff, our principals. Thank you for our parents, our students that are here tonight. Thank you for the members of the media that are here tonight. We ask your wisdom, your guidance, your mercy as you watch over us. Thank you for the blessings that
002you bestow upon us each and every day. Help us to be mindful of your will and your way. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. 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. All right. Thank you. Do we have a motion to approve tonight's agenda? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? I do have something under the consent agenda. Would you like to talk about that now? Yes, sir. Let's see here. Items J and K in the consent agenda, I would like to move to a closed session. Items J and K. Disciplinary action. Right. Item 14. Items J and K. Do we have to make a separate
003move? I'll move that the... Agenda B, modified to include a closed session for items J and K with the definition to be provided by the clerk momentarily. For what? Item C. All right. So that we can have that discussion. All right. Second. All right. It's been moved and properly seconded to amend the agenda to take out items J and K and move them to the closed session. Any further discussion? All in favor signify. Aye. Any opposed? All right the agenda has been amended. All right we shall begin with awards and recognition. Now we have school as a designated community school. Dr. Martin. Good evening Mr. Chairman, members of the board. I'd like to take a moment to recognize an important accomplishment for our school division. The Virginia Department of Education has officially designated one of
004our schools, Nottoway High School, as a Virginia Community School, a recognition that reflects the strong work taking place to support students and families. This designation highlights excellence in school leadership, intentional programming, and meaningful partnerships with families and community organizations. Community Schools serves as hubs that bring together academic supports, family engagement, and community partnerships to ensure students have the resources they need to succeed. The designation is part of the statewide initiative established by the Virginia General Assembly through House Bill 1355, which promotes community schools as a strategy to enhance student achievement through coordinated services and wraparound supports for students and their families. Nottoway High School has focused its efforts and work on attendance and graduation. This recognition affirms the commitment of our staff and community partners to ensuring that every student has access to the opportunities
005and support needed for success. The designation will remain in effect through June 30, 2028 and reflects the continued progress of our schools in strengthening connections between education families and the broader community. So Mr. Rowe has the plaque for Mr. Wilson and his team at Nottoway High School. Mr. Wilson, congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Can you all put a hand on the plaque? I'm going to hold the plaque and take credit for the plaque. On three. One, two, and three. Hold that pose. One more time. One, two, and three. Fantastic. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. Oh, wait a minute. Let's get it. Charlotte's got to get the shot. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. Next, we have school highlights. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, this evening we're going to hear some
006highlights from Nottoway High School. And it's exciting because this is one of our newest programs here that we have. They're doing an outstanding job. This year marked the launch of our first firefighting course at Nottoway High School, providing students with the opportunity to gain hands-on training and exposure to careers in emergency services while still in high school. The program represents an important partnership between the school division and our local emergency services community and reflects our continued commitment to expanding career and technical education opportunities for our students. I am proud to share that all nine students enrolled in the course successfully passed their practical firefighting assessments the other weekend. This is a significant milestone and speaks to the dedication, discipline, and hard work these students have demonstrated throughout the program. This Saturday, these students will sit
007for their written certification exam, which represents the final step and I think the first part of their certification. We are incredibly proud of these students and grateful to their instructors and community partners who have helped make this opportunity possible. Programs like these not only prepare students for meaningful careers, but also strengthen the workforce and public safety of our community. So I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Wilson and I believe Dr. Foster and Mr. Evans and Mr. Kraft and their students to highlight the program for you. Good evening board members Dr.. Martin and Miss wood tonight Donovan high school wants to show off our firefighting course and Dr. Martin gave a good explanation of what's going on with the course. I won't go through that again. But we are very proud of these students
008and I want to thank you all and Dr. Martin for backing this program because of course with it being the first year there was some financial obligations to get the course going with the equipment and all and then I want to definitely thank Mr. Foster who Was integral in getting the program together. He did the research. He he did everything to get everything together so we could have what we have now So at this point I'll turn over to mr. Foster. Mr. Evans and mr. Craft What members Martin I was everybody doing all right home you straight you can use it So I'm mr. Evans. I'm the instructor here at Nottoway County High. I just wanna say it's a privilege Thank you taking time today. Let's talk to us about this program So our program
009goal, the biggest thing in this program is to get these students, these young kids, out in the working force. Get them out of their classroom, out in the fire stations, whether that be in the community as volunteers or actually skilled professionals in the field of professional firefighters. So before we get to our motto, our little mantra we say every day, that pushes kids to succeed and make their accountability. With that being said, I have a little demonstration for you. Can you hear me? Yeah, fine. So, Nottoway High Engine 1, I need you to respond to the mini-oratorium at the high school. You got a report of a single victim, unconscious. How you got me? I wasn't sure if I could be the person. When I played, I didn't. They were poking my head. Sometimes, let
010them play with them. Before we begin, this is to estimate their accountability. This program itself, these kids, when they graduate, we have fire at one. Hazmat Ops and Awareness, Firefighter 2, and also First Aid and CPR. So, if they're getting ready to come back in, I'm going to have them, if you don't mind, have them speak. Mr. Trent Hayes, are you ready? So, through we have tonight's Trent Hayes, Mr. Lear Epps, and Mr. Jeremiah Mitchell. All right. Give them two seconds. All right, all right. I can share with the board, I attended that program, the training, and it is completely different when they're crawling through a building. 100 to 550 degrees and they're dragging that rascal out. Good afternoon. My name is Trey. I'm in the Nottoway Fire Science class here. I am very grateful
011for this Nottoway High School for having this program. It has really helped me plan out a future and it gives me something to look forward to every day. All of my instructors are very positive to be around and extremely invested in us. And all the firemen from the local fire departments have really helped out a lot with our training. I'm glad I can be a part of this, and I'm looking forward to my future as a fireman. We have Mrs. Julia Epps. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for supporting the Firefighter Program. Being a part of this program has given me hands-on experience and discipline that I wouldn't have gained in a traditional classroom alone. Opportunities like this truly make a difference for students like me and I'm grateful to be
012a part of it. When I first started the Firefighter program, I was nervous at the thought of even facing a fire. But with the help of my classmates and all the training we've gone through together, I've been able to build my confidence. This program has pushed me to step aside my comfort zone and try new things, not just in firefighting, but in other areas of my life too. I'm really grateful for the opportunity to be a part of a program that challenges us, teaches us real life skills, and helps us grow as individuals. Thank you for continuing to support programs that prepare students for meaningful careers and service, and I can't wait to see the fire science program continue to grow over the next few years. And last we have Mr. Jeremiah Mitchell. My name
013is Jeremiah Mitchell. I joined this firefighter program to gain skills and knowledge. And before I got here, I didn't go a lot. I wasn't in shape as much. I can second that. When we first did it, I tired myself out. And I was like, man, this is probably not for me. I still kept it through. I kept it pushing. It taught me a lot of valuable skills, especially being around. I'm not the only one that's doing it by myself. I guess that makes me feel more better. And just throughout this whole experience, it taught me a important lesson in life. And I appreciate everything, and I feel like I should keep continuing this program. Thank you very much. Short video we're gonna play this is the highlights of so far we've done so far this
014year and after that I'll turn it to dr. Foster. First we've got an amazing cadre that's extremely experienced. They dedicated to these students and it's been evident through what they show on the 28th during the live fire evolution and what they're getting ready to show here in the future but it wouldn't be possible without many of these community partners around us with the volunteer agencies also Nottoway EMS and Nottoway Emergency Services but we can't forget also the Crater Regional Fire Academy that's Hopewell, Prince George, Dinwiddie and Colonial Heights Fire. our students actually had the opportunity to train with them and they've been invited back to train with them in the future. So hopefully those will be employers for our students. So what's next for them? They've got recruiter visits coming up. We've had one so
015far, but we've got a few more recruiters coming in. The next is going to be on the 20th of, they've had three so far. Okay. Oh yeah, well true. But next one's going to be on the 20th. Saturday they take their written exam, 100 questions that they'll have to show their knowledge on paper. But then they'll go show a few more practical skills and then they've got two more certification tests after that. Afterwards they'll be ready to enter the workforce as firefighters. They're just missing their EMT. Hopefully we'll be able to get them that at some point as well. But they'll be able to enter the workforce as certified firefighters. They're going to have great resumes, and we appreciate the support and everything that you all have done to help as well. Dr. Martin, you
016support Mr. Wilson, Ms. Hudgens, the entire staff of the high school, because I know that the noise has not been fun every day, I'm sure. But we appreciate it. Thank you all. Gentlemen, before you leave, I just wanted to ask if the board had any questions or any comments. If anyone on the board had any questions or comments. I just think you guys are great guys and gals. That's wonderful. All I can say is that is awesome to see. I guess what, certified? Certified and go get a job. This was not happening when I was going to school. It was not happening. Even when I was. It's amazing how much things have changed and advanced. So I appreciate you, Dr. Foster. Mr. Evans. Mr. Evans. These three are representative of the nine that did the
017training that Saturday. They all worked together. They did every phase of the program individually as a team. Very good, very good. Anybody else? I want to say thank you for your selflessness, for you running to while others are running away from. It takes a true... caring person and I thank you in advance for the service that you're going to deliver. Yes indeed. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, so tonight we have the privilege of recognizing some of our student athletes for their winter sports accomplishments. It's truly a balance of being an athlete and a student, and of course they're always students first, so on and off the court field, wherever they may be, I'm not wrestling Matt, whatever it is, I'm super proud of their accomplishments. So Mr. Rowe, I'll hand
018you these as I introduce them to you. So for winter sports we have wrestling Branson Roar with not and Mr. Page will have to correct me if I'm wrong in this 120 pounds third place regional state qualifier. All the wrestlers could just stay yeah. All right. After we get to go we get a group picture. Congratulations. Elliott Waite 150 pounds second place regional state qualifier. Colton Lewis, 165 pounds, fourth place, regionals, state alternate. And Josh Green, it says HWT, is that heavyweight division? Okay. They didn't spell it out for me. So Josh Green, heavyweight, sixth place, regionals. Mr. Chairman in the middle, we could get the heavyweight champ over here. Champion of the world here. Getting close together here. Hold this up, please on three looking great one two and three hold that pose Good
019job. Thank you. Thank you. I was forget about shot. I gotta get a shot to First-team all-district girls basketball and she was fierce on the court. I watched her Congratulations. She was 12 years. For boys basketball, Kai Bowden, team all-district boys basketball. Anton Carter, Jr., first team all-district boys basketball. Jameer Crawley, second team all-district boys basketball. Indoor track. Bradley Hamilton, VHSL Region 2A Champion, 1 mile and 2 mile. VHSL Class 2 State Champion, 1600 meter run. VHSL Class 2 State Champion, 3200 meter run. I haven't run that long. Finally, for football, Anton Carter Jr., First Team All-State Football Running Back and Punt Returner. Thank you, thank you. You see me doing that kind of running? Something is after me. You know that? You have to shoot it through. You see my heavy weight? He's amazing.
020He's green now. You're going to make me something with the strawberry, though. You're going to make me something with the strawberry? I make bread and I make juice. You know where I work now. All right. Thank you very much. Do we have anyone signed up for delegations from the public? All right is there a motion to accept the conjecture that's yet consent agenda items, a through at full moon second discussion all in favor. The first action item. The second reason of the H school board member compensation and benefits. I still I'll read the the file. School board member compensation and benefits. Each member of the Nottoway school board should participate annually in high quality professional development activities at the state, local, or national levels on governance, including but not limited to, personnel policies and practices,
021evaluation of personnel curriculum and instruction, use of data in planning and decision making, and current issues in education. as part of their service on the local board pursuant to code of Virginia 22.1-253.1315d. Reimbursement for a school board member's registration fee for professional development will be provided when the following conditions are met. The school board member submits the receipt showing the professional development registration payment amount as well as the description of the course activity following his or her attendance of the session or sessions. And B, the professional development is provided by one of the following. a college university, be a K-12 educational organization, or see a professional organization that supports school boards. And the professional development is the only topic listed in 22.1-253.135D of the Code of Injunia. Reimbursement will be provided for registration fees and
022associated costs, lodging, meals, travel, at the GSA-approved rate for participation in professional development events. Registration fees for events hosted by the Virginia School Board Association will be paid directly by NCPS. Therefore, there will be no reimbursement for those events. Nothing in this regulation limits a school board member to participate only in VSBA-sponsored activities, and nothing in this regulation requires a school board member to participate in VSBA-sponsored activities. All right. So do I have a motion to approve this policy? So moved. Is there a second? All second. Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And this policy will go into effect retroactively. All right. Second action item. Governor's School slots. Dr. Martin. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, in your packet this evening you have a drafted letter from Nottoway County Public Schools
023to adjust our allotted number of humanities program slots with the Governor's School. Currently, Nottoway is assigned 10 student slots for juniors and seniors in the humanities program. Based on enrollment trends and program utilization, we have requested that our allocation be reduced by four slots, leaving the division with six slots total on the reduction cycle when it becomes available. This request will be submitted in accordance with Section 7.1 of the GSSB Policy Manual, which allows participating divisions to request adjustments to their important slots. The request will be presented, if approved by the Board, to be considered by the GSSB Board at their May 20, 2026 meeting. It is important to note that while we're requesting this adjustment, the board approval from GSSV is required. You will also notice in there that I did put a clause,
024which of course you can strike if you so choose, that if the request is not approved, the division has also formally provided notice consistent with their policy that withdrawal from the program would be considered. All right. Do we have a motion to approve this reduction from the governor's school? We'll move. We have a second. I'll second. Any discussion? Just one quick recap question. I know I have it. What is the cost savings on reducing this? $9,000 per... Yeah, it's like $89,000 something. It's close to $9,000 per slot. Per student. Per slot for the two years of the program. So approximately $40,000. Say that again, please. Approximately $40,000, but remember it's a delayed effect because you have to do it over the course of so long. Any further discussion? If not, all in favor? Aye. Opposed?
025All right. Motion carried. Next. Budget. Dr. Martin. I'm going to ask Heather to come up and speak to just a couple of things in the budget for you. and highlight a couple of things and then we'll go from there. So as we Continue to look at the budget. We did make a few adjustments to the budget. Most of that was based off of where we're currently staying with ADM. Originally, the first draft you received, ADM, was based off of 1675. However, we have reduced that down to 1650. That puts us much closer in number and not quite so far away from where we currently are. Currently, we're at 1646 as of the end of February. So this just puts us closer in line to that without as large of a discrepancy. So that was the
026biggest factor. We have also opted out of or are proposing to opt out of the special education add-on. This is additional funding that, to be honest, we're not used to receiving. And it hasn't impacted the budget not receiving it in the past. I will say we're getting it this year, but there's no strings attached to it this year as far as there's no local match or none of that. Next year and the year after there would be a local match required. So really just in looking at our special education budget, it inflates it a little bit more than what makes us comfortable when it comes to looking at our maintenance of effort. And there's a section in your binder and actually you have some updated pages that I've paper clipped together. And I'll go over
027kind of what maintenance of effort is here in just a moment. But with the reductions that we've made with ADM and proposing to opt out of that special education add-on, we are reducing the budget $635,644 from the first draft that you received. And that does not affect any positions on the school level. So as of right now, the only position affected is the food service position that we mentioned during the budget work sessions. and that has not changed. So other than that, you have in your packets tonight, you've got the updated revenue pages, there's revenue summary pages, there's also an expenditure summary page for you all so that you can see kind of where everything is being spent, where it's being spent with instruction, administration, transportation, and it kind of lists that out. I've also
028included for you the updated expenditure pages and I've actually highlighted the areas where I actually removed funds out of the budget to be able to compensate for us removing $635,000 in revenue. And then I will talk about maintenance of effort. Because I want you to make sure that you understand why that's important, what that is. And maintenance of effort is a federal requirement under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. So it ensures that school divisions do not reduce their financial support for special education from one fiscal year to the next. It's designed to ensure that federal funds supplement. and do not supplant state and local efforts to educate children with disabilities. So within the MOE section of your binder and this is something new that we've added this year. It actually came
029out of our corrective action plans with monitoring is that this is something we really needed to actually spell out in our budget books. So it talks about how we actually come up with the funding to make sure that we maintain our maintenance of effort and where we're at. And the idea is that we incrementally increase what we're spending on special education every single year. However, You don't want to go necessarily blow it out of the water because then you've got to go even further above that the next year and you may not have the funding available. So while we want to increase and we've actually increased more than what the minimum we needed for maintenance of effort, we didn't want to go too far above and then we start getting into a funding issue and
030having to pull back on other things. going forward. We always want to make sure our students have what they need and that's important. But looking at the budget and looking at what we spent in past years. We're able to maintain the services that we have provided with the budget that we have put together So we do meet our maintenance of effort requirement for FY 27 But that will also be monitored throughout the year to make sure that we're spending those funds effectively and accurately in order one to maintain our IDEA federal funding through our title grants Did I miss any updates there? So just to summarize for you that at this time we are requesting that the school board adopt the fiscal year 27 budget. The budget was developed on that projected ADM that she
031said and we did lower it based on what we felt a more accurate number would be as we were approaching the end of March of 1650. It was a reduction from our original budget, but as I shared, we feel confident in the projected number of students. It really does reflect careful planning and prioritization to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our students, our staff, and our school community. It maintains support for essential programs and services while also making those important investments in our students. Specifically, the budget provides the ability to increase starting salaries. It was one of the priorities of this board to increase starting salaries to remain competitive in our region. And it also at this time includes a 3% raise for staff, recognizing the important work of our employees across the
032division. Now keep in mind, as we shared with you, depending on, that could be a little bit more so we could get the pay scales the right way for teachers. Overall, the budget represents a responsible financial plan that supports the operational needs of the school division while continuing to invest in the people and the programs that are here. So I do respectfully request that you adopt the 27 fiscal year budget so we can forward it on to the Board of Supervisors. All right. I believe one of our earlier discussions you mentioned one of the big increases was a 10% cost increase on prescription drugs. So our health insurance premiums did go up. They went up 13.3%. Granted, I will say we're actually one of the lowest school divisions in the state for increases this year.
033And typically in years past, because we are part of Local Choice, which is a state health insurance program through Blue Cross Blue Shield. Typically in the past they have not actually used pharmaceutical data on health insurance increases. However, I guess they finally got smart and realized they were missing a huge little pot of money there. But this year they did. So that did account for most of the school division's increases, whether they were with local choice or whether they were privately insured. I do know there are school divisions who got well over almost 30% increase in their insurance premiums. And I am very thankful we are not one of them. But we were able to absorb most of that. Staff will see a little bit of it. It's not a huge increase for them. I
034want to say it's like maybe $6 for those who are employee only. It does incrementally change when you go up to family plans or family plus spouse. But it was a 13.3% increase in our interim premiums. Well, in the news recently, we have heard about the cost of prescription drugs going down rather significantly in some places. And just today, my wife received a Medicare bill for her mother, and about 60% of the prescription drugs that she gets are no longer, there is no longer any. copay associated with that, which is significant. So it would seem to me there's a huge... contradiction here between what the insurance companies are doing and what seems to be actually happening. Well, they base everything off of the prior 12 months worth of data in order to make sure, one,
035that they recoup some of their funds. So because health insurance or pharmaceutical costs are going down, and a lot of pharmaceutical or health insurance companies are no longer covering the GLP-1 drugs. Because of that, hopefully next year we will see a very minimal decrease or a very minimal increase. I don't think we'll ever see a decrease. But it is based upon prior year data. It's not just pharmaceutical. A large chunk of it is also our high claims employees that are on there that are way over a certain dollar amount. But hopefully next year with the pharmaceutical prices coming down, we will see a much less of an increase. Yeah, it's being driven by a lot of the high-priced drugs that they're not covering anymore. So I think next year we should see, because like you
036said, a lot of these drugs now are zero copays. A couple of questions. I just want to make sure I'm reading this correctly. Is our budget now about $20 million? So our operating revenue budget is $30 million and then when you add in our special programs and grants our total budget is $42 million. Generally speaking. If you look at only state funds, it's $21 million in state funding. If I were to compare it to other divisions, that would be the number I would use, $22 million. I mean, not necessarily because other divisions, their ADM is different, so you really can't compare it. Well, I understand that, but when you read about them in the newspaper, they publish a number, right? Like Amelia's at $26 million. I just want to... Thank you because we have five
037schools and 60% of a and TC for 22 million They have three schools and 40% of a and TC and they're at 26 million Well, thank you. But last but not least is our concern with crew primary Were we able to resolve? whatever the final number was based on the joint board meeting where we had we mentioned that there was a possibility of getting a program that would cover a percentage of the four and a half million and the county might have to look at the rest is there So I think we're closer along in that. We have a couple of options to possibly consider and look at in revenue sources to get us where we need to be. One of the things that we will need for the school construction assistance program grant is
038a letter of support from the county. We will intend to ask them for that letter of support and applying for it. Our goal, and I believe the county is aware that our goal is that we really need to do this. start this project over the summer with whatever source that we can get and do. We had another leak at crew primary yesterday or yesterday in a classroom. Another leak. It was caught early. It was caught very early or it would have been disastrous. So they are well aware and we are trying to figure out what is the best. funding source to move forward with that because the school construction assistance program grant I think it's due the end of May but we won't find out if we get it until August well that's a little
039too late so I mean it's fine to move on with it but we're going to need to look at some other funding streams at least get us over that hump so we can get started I take from your explanation and correct me if I'm not understanding completely That's to say that we're not going to ask the county to support any amount of those funds We're still going to ask for support. We have taken it out of the budget per se because we don't have an exact dollar amount. But we do still intend to ask them for the support once we have that solid figure dollar amount and we know what type of funding we can get to offset that dollar amount. And I believe that they are very much on board with assisting us with
040anything we need with that. Okay. That's good to hear. That is good to hear. Just to confirm, and I think you covered it, but I was looking through the handouts we got tonight, and I, at two places, found capital improvement with a zero anything. So we are not including what was in the original packet. needed improvements for Crewe Primary? It is not in there only because of the fact that we do not have a true dollar amount. So to put it in the budget and to ask them for four and a half million dollars when we don't actually have an exact dollar amount is very, I mean it's hard for them to budget as well. So we took the stance of removing it for right now knowing that we're going to go after the grant,
041knowing that we're going to continue to still find other funding. Options we actually have a meeting tomorrow about funding options So and the project itself so as we get more information We'll continue to provide that you all to the county and keep everybody up to date kind of what our options are where we're gonna go from there with that Thank you. Thank you. I trust you As one board member, I trust what you do. I second that. I third that. But I agree with Ronald Reagan. Verify. Yes, indeed. So, question. I do understand, Marge and I talked at length, well, emailed, understanding the concern with the MRE. I truly, truly, truly do. The question I have is, how many students do you have who are currently receiving special education services has that number been trending
042up has that number been trending down i believe when i looked at the account that she gave me earlier really 77 maybe it's about saying i mean it's slightly higher than it was last year but it tends to stay within i mean we're under 300 kids that are um serviced for students with disabilities um i think we're up maybe I don't have the numbers off the top of my head, Michelle, but I mean, we just looked at it. We're working on the annual plan. It's staying relatively the same. It is. I mean, it fluctuates by a couple of kids, but we're not seeing sharp increases of 20 kids compared to last year. I can get you those. I don't need them. I'm just wondering, you know, if we're seeing any trends. Like every year we're
043seeing more and more and more and more. That's what I was questioning about because, you know, as it was so well explained in the pre-K program, that is one of the avenues to help prevent these things from happening. So that leads me to question. in this new updated special education budget or even in the RTI, those types of things. What do the how would those budgets going to impact the prevention from students entering special education services? Well, I will tell you one of the biggest things for prevention prevention that we have is we have to set aside for that CCEIS And that is very much prevention support To ensure that students are getting what they need in advance before they are identified as a student with a disability to ensure that the proper foundational practices
044are in place. So we do have funding set aside specifically for those earlier onsets of things that we have to prevent. And I took a look into VDOE's website and some of the data that they have there, which I honestly often believe that sometimes it's a little skewed. And one of the things that I noticed is that not away is not, what's the appropriate word, you know, when it answers the yes and the no. Not accredited, but in a way... Accountability measures? Yeah. Yeah, for the indicators that for our early, early interventions, such as the ECSC program, those types of things, that we're not defining enough children early enough. That goes to Child Find and getting the word out. I mean, we do have a great partnership with ITC in getting referrals. Now it's up
045to the parents whether they want to receive them first. We do have some parents that don't want to transfer to school-based services for a variety of reasons. But I know we've had... Quite a few referrals that are coming through from ITC right now. We have been pushing out the CalFind process out more, trying to communicate that process, getting it out to local community agencies to make sure that parents do know how to... get early intervention services even if they're not going through ITC what's available for their students if they go for their children if they are experiencing delays early on. That would include the health department, health department, social services, doctor's office. Okay, it's just one of the things that kind of stood out at me as far as a prevention standpoint, you know, addressing
046the concerns and then moving on. We each serve, well, on different teams for the county that have avenues for us to connect with individuals to get the word out to them as well, plus through our BPI. advisory board and those type of things that has Head Start available on it and different organizations so that we can give that those updates and the resources available to through all the avenues that Dr. Gravely, Dr. Lewis and myself serve on. The indicator data is two years behind. So it's not recent data. So it's going to take us a couple of years to actually, you know, see where we are now. Okay. Yeah. And I I appreciate it. It's just I do see, you know, we've had that conversation. We're really behind, especially compared to some of our surrounding
047counties when it comes to our special education students passing SOS and those different things. They take them. You know, we're doing really great with doing that. And I see a change, and that's why I support, you know, what you've said, Dr. Martin. I support what you said. Just keep on. Still pushing. All right. I'll make the motion to move to accept the budget as presented. I move and second to adopt the Chapter 27 budget. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? All right. Next the local sales tax referendum resolution Chairman members of the board. I do have the resolution before you have an update Evening regarding this. However, I still think it's important to say where the board is on this resolution so we know where it is in the future, but Following the
048recent joint meeting between the school board and the Noddley County Board of Supervisors, both boards had discussion regarding the capital improvement needs of our school facilities. As we all know, maintaining safe, functional, and modern learning environments requires significant long-term investment. During that discussion, both boards expressed support for pursuing a resolution to allow the citizens of Nottoway County the opportunity to consider a referendum on a 1% local sales tax dedicated to school capital improvements, and that is solely what that sales tax revenue is for. Legislation that was currently before the Virginia General Assembly was House Bill 334 and Senate Bill 607 would authorize localities to place this option before voters. If approved by the community through a referendum, the revenue generated could only be used for school construction and renovation projects. The funding option is important
049because it would provide a dedicated source of revenue to address infrastructure needs of our school facilities now and, of course, in the future. And it doesn't just solely rely on local property taxes because the sales tax is what anybody is paying, whether they're shopping or buying, whether they're from here or not, they're contributing to that. So with that, though, it is my understanding that House Bill 334 was initially passed. Senate Bill 607 was... I'll use the word set aside and is going to be looked at in the next General Assembly session through the Senate Appropriations and Finance Committee. So it's kind of at a neither one of them came for a vote before the Senate. But it's still out there so I still think that it is if it's something that you so choose to
050do to say where you support that and moving forward and at least we can keep it at the forefront. Right now there are under current law there's a few counties that already have that sales tax in place, which is Charlotte, Gloucester, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Northampton, Patrick, and Pennsylvania counties, and I think the city of Danville is already authorized to impose such a tax on that. But it does keep it in the forefront as to the need for school construction, especially in rural communities, even though it will not move forward any further, I believe, in this General Assembly. I have the resolution and if you said... How are they doing that? They asked for permission specifically to add it. So I think you can, if my understanding is you can, through your senator or your delegate,
051your local legislative person, you can ask them to petition and ask for that moving forward, which would also come up in the next General Assembly session if we so choose to have it as a local measure through the county of Nottoway to be added. But I do have the resolution if you want me to read it because I believe... If I remember correctly, I need to read the formal resolution before you can adopt it. Yes. If you still so choose to do that. Just a couple of things, if I may. I was in conversation with both our senators and our delegates' offices today, and even though this measure failed in the Senate this year, they have that on their calendar for next year and will be. keeping that at the forefront in both of those
052bodies, but it would be in our best interest if each of us would contact our delegate and our senator and ask for their support and anyone else you know of that might do likewise. Yes, indeed. I think it's a good opportunity to, even though it's not till next year, to explain to your constituents. as to what it really means because there is that word tax that It's not looked favorably upon, but it is really different, the sales tax versus your personal property and your real estate taxes. So it gives time to educate our community on how much it would benefit our schools and our aging school buildings and where we can move our schools to as well moving forward if we had an opportunity like this. Yes, indeed. If I might, I was under the
053impression. apparently mistakenly, that during the joint board meeting, the Board of Supervisors asked that we support their effort. And it would take a resolution from the school board indicating that we're going to support their effort to seek this tax increase. The way this resolution is written, and it's written well, it's a stand-alone situation. It doesn't require the Board of Supervisors. although they might support it. So the other thing that I would say is that Governor Spanberger hasn't seen a tax she doesn't like. I believe you both need to adopt your own resolutions. And that was my understanding, too, with talking to the county administrator so that they would adopt a similar resolution at their meeting. So I'm happy to read it if you want to proceed with adopting a resolution. I'm definitely fine. Please do.
054Yes. Nottoway County School Board resolution in support of Virginia House Bill 334 and Senate Bill 607. Whereas the School Board of Nottoway County is committed to providing a high quality education to all students while promoting the efficient use of taxpayer funds. Whereas the Virginia General Assembly has introduced House Bill 334 and Senate Bill 607, which authorizes all counties and cities to impose an additional local sales and use tax at a rate not to exceed 1% with the revenue used for capital projects for the construction or renovation of schools if such levy is approved in a voter referendum. Whereas this legislation promotes local decision-making and presents the community with an opportunity to decide whether to vote on additional sales and use tax to ease the financial burden placed on Nottoway County Public Schools and the construction
055and renovation of school facilities. Whereas the board believes that if passed, the additional funds generated from the proposed tax will allow Nottoway County Public Schools more flexibility in addressing construction and renovation needs and to ultimately provide a higher quality of education to its students. Resolved that the Nottowee County School Board strongly supports Senate Bill 607 and urges the Virginia General Assembly to pass the legislation. Further resolved, the copies of the resolution shall be sent to the members of the General Assembly representing Nottowee County Public Schools. And it will be signed by y'all, witnessed by Charlotte and myself. All right. Do we have a motion to adopt this resolution? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any more discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? All right. Resolution is adopted. All right. We have one non-action
056item. First read of file JECB, the admission of non-public students for part-time enrollment. Dr. Martin. This evening, the board is being presented with the first read of policy JECB, part-time enrollment option one, which would come effective July 1st, 2026, following discussion at the February 25th, 2026 work session. Currently, Nottoway County Public Schools operates under option two of the policy. Option one is being presented as an alternative approach that aligns with the Code of Virginia. which allows students who are homeschooled or enrolled in non-public schools to enroll in public school courses on a part-time basis and be counted in the division's average daily membership on a prorated basis. Under this option, homeschooled or private school students could enroll in select academic courses such as math, science, English, history, social science, fine art, world languages, health, PE,
057and certain career and technical courses subject to availability. Several limitations and requirements would apply including enrollment dependent on course and space availability. Students must meet all course prerequisites. Certain programs with additional fees or costs such as governor school dual enrollment or credential based CTE courses would not be included. VHSL rules require full-time enrollment for participation in athletics and enrollment decisions may consider disciplinary history and staffing needs. Additionally, special education services for part-time students would be handled in the same manner as for homeschooled students, ensuring equitable access to services as required under federal and state guidelines. This is presented as a first read to you for discussion. You could waive the first read and adopt this evening, or you can wait and adopt at the April meeting, if you so choose. All right. All right. Thank
058you very much. Next, I have a couple of questions. paragraph special education information. Part-time students should be treated the same as full-time homeschool students who are not strictly required to receive services but are eligible to receive them. What exactly does that mean? They don't have to receive them, but they can receive them if they so choose. So whether we adopt this or not? Well... Adopt option one or not? So, yes, there are certain services that are provided to students at this point in time, but once they are enrolled in school, they are eligible to receive any services. You say they are? Yes, sir. So this option does not have any bearing on special ed? It does. Yeah, it does. It does. We are required to provide them services in accord to what we would provide
059students with, at a minimum. Whether we adopt this or not? We have to do that. I hope that was what you just said a moment ago. Yes, so the current services that we provide to a homeschool student now is speech only, but we would still have to provide a speech service. However, if they're enrolled in a course here and there are other services, then we would have to potentially provide other services of support to them because they're now enrolled. on a part-time basis whereas right now under homeschool we only have to provide speech services to them okay uh in the limitations in addition to the option provided uh the first bullet point participation in courses requiring enrollment fees such as gssv dual enrollment are excluded so who pays these fees now the school or the
060individual the school pays them We made it available to another taxpayer's child. We would not pay their bill. That's what we discussed at the work session, that we would only allow them to participate in courses that are not dual enrollment or those type of things because of the seats and the space limitations in them as well. Dual enrollment limitations put on by SVCC? We have only so many seats in some of our classes. We can enroll in we can't continue to load up all the classes Okay, and then the third bullet point career and technical education courses The fees for Testing credentialing or associated specific costs are excluded who pays those fees for the students that are currently enrolled at ANTC at ANTC or within the school division Well, you won. I mean, ANTC would
061have covered their own. I would assume they covered their own costs, so I guess they could charge a student for something over there. But for us, we pay for their credentialing test, provided there's funding available through the school division. So if some student, a homeschool student, wanted to go to one of those courses, their parents are taxpayers. They would not be extended that same benefit? Because they're not budgeted for that course for those amounts, the way it is written right now. If I was a taxpayer, I wouldn't like that. I wouldn't think that. To be fair, I pay taxes that I don't get the benefit out of, but if I want to get a little benefit out of it, I'll just shove to the side. They also would have to participate in the prerequisites for
062those courses because most of the career and technical have steps to take. I understand that. Anything else? We can move to information items. ANTC report, Mr. Adler. Excuse me, nothing at this time. All right. School report from Ms. Duncan. I think Marsha took well care of that. All right. SEAC report from Ms. Duncan. We have not had a meeting again yet. We will be. I thought it was. It was like, yeah, it is in April that we have our next meeting. And student liaison report. The GEAR UP program has been encouraging a ton of field trips for us to the UTI Center in North Carolina, the SVCC Complex in Chase City, and others. Those will be next week. The CTE department is getting students to test Monday for an industry credentialing test. It's just to
063see if you are ready for the workforce to know the vocabulary and stuff to do in that job. ASBAP testing, the juniors will be taking that. That will be on Tuesday, March 24th at Nottoway High School. ASBAP testing allows students to engage in career exploration and post-secondary planning. Other events that have happened is that our Nottoway High School FBLA team traveled to Longwood and Some students won awards in public speaking and at the conference. Some of them placed pretty high that they're able to go to states for that, which is really cool. And then important dates is that Monday, March 24th, Herb Jones will be at the high school from 12 to 4 for senior cap and gown distribution. Spring break for us is March 30th through April 3rd. Saturday, April 25th. High School will
064be hosting the junior-senior prom from 7 to 10 30 at the high school the theme for that is masquerade and then two dates that are the summer is Monday June 1st is the senior parade and Saturday June 6th is graduate month. Thank you very much. All right. Next we have the superintendent's report from Dr. Martin Mr. Chairman, members of the board, as always, there are many great things happening across Nottoway County Public Schools. Our dedicated staff continue to focus on what matters most, and that's improving student outcomes and supporting every learner in our school. I'm grateful each day for the commitment our employees show to students and the community. Of course, we're moving into the spring semester a little bit further. It's hard to believe we're almost in the middle of March, and spring break
065is right around the corner. Even though it snowed. It snowed. Yesterday it was 90 degrees and today it's only in Virginia, right? So hopefully though with spring break approaching that the weather is going to cooperate and our staff are going to be able to enjoy some well-earned time to rest and recharge. I also want to take a moment to thank you, the school board, for the collaborative work throughout the budget development process. Your willingness to listen, ask questions, and recognize the needs of the division has been greatly appreciated as we work through the many details involved in building this budget this year. I also have to recognize Heather and her finance team. There's not very many of them. It's Heather and really two others that really put it all together there for their outstanding work
066in developing the budget. They have spent countless hours reviewing projections, checking figures, ensuring we maximized all the available funding sources, and compiling that detailed budget book for your review. They are very diligent and their attention to detail helps to ensure that we're responsible stewards of our resources that we have. We are very fortunate to have Heather and her team on staff. Earlier this week, we held a safety meeting focused on emergency preparedness where we worked through tabletop exercises and discussed procedures for responding to potential emergency situations. While we hope to never have to face any of those circumstances in our schools, it is critically important that we are prepared and that we have a clear plan and a reunification plan in place if something was to happen in our schools that we hope that never
067does. This was also a really productive conversation with our community partners and we'll continue this work by conducting a similar preparedness exercise focused on Crewe and Blackstone in May. So we meet. About quarterly with our SROs, with members of the Sheriff's Department, with emergency management from the county. This time we'll have Town of Blackstone and Crew Police there as well, and we'll kind of do a tabletop drill exercise for those two schools to talk about evacuations and how do we handle things and what are the next steps that we have. We often focus on the complex, but... Blackstone and Crew are just as important to know that we have a plan in place there to support those schools. So again, thank you for your continued support of Nottoway County Public Schools and the work taking
068place for our students. And so Pi Day 314 is on Saturday, and PCG University Instructors has donated pies, mini pies, for all of our staff. So you have one this evening. The staff will all get theirs tomorrow. and representing Pi Day. Yes, indeed. Enjoy your little pie. If you don't like the flavor you got, you'll have to change with your friends. You'll have to share. I thought the flyer had some kind of cute little things in it if you look at it closely. Study it. All right, thank you, Dr. Martin. In the matters of school board interest, on March 19th, the 2026 BSBA Hot Topic Conference. That's at the VSBA office on virtual. March 24th, we have the VSBA Regional Spring Network Forum. That's at Greensville County this year. March 31st is the VSBA Superintendent
069Evaluation Workshop. That's the VSBA office on virtual. April 23rd is the VSBA Training, the Boys Rule, and School Budget Development. All right. Under other, Mr. Thatlaw, do you have anything? Yes, I do. A couple things. Question first, Dr. Martin. Are graduating seniors expected to know who their elected officials are? Are their parents elected officials? I hope if they've passed government, they do. I would hope. Government. Hope is not a method. I know. In order to pass government, that's part of your civics and economics and government classes or political science. So I can say that my son is in political science through the community college, and they've had a lot of research they've had to do on who their elected officials were and bills and laws. Well, with that said, I would ask a question of
070board members and staff that are here. Who is our delegate? Mr. Delegate Lee Ware. You get the gold star again. I'm going to stop answering. I'm going to let somebody else do the next one. I'll put somebody else on the spot next time. Well, I would just say this, that if we expect our students to know some of these things, I think it only reasonable that we ourselves know them. And may I add, he's one of the nicest men I've ever met. Of course, I've met a lot of people. He's very... Very personable and just a nice man. Just a very nice man. And he is a retired history teacher, high school history. And just one final thing. My family and I went to Monticello yesterday. And I don't know if you've ever been there.
071It is... I went years ago. It has changed just unbelievably. And it is an amazing event. And this year is the 250th anniversary of what? Declaration of... That's it, I'm going to answer. You're going to answer that? That's it, I'm going to answer. But anyway, I have here four, they're called passport books. that talk about all of the different historical locations, Mount Vernon, Williamsburg, and so on and so forth around. And I'll give that to you, Dr. Martin, if you want to put any of that information out. But you can get some benefits with having these. So anyway, these trips are, my grandkids love them. They just love that trip. Yes, indeed. All right, Mr. Allen. Just one. I'd like to recognize Aubrey Wallace. Now, some of you may know Aubrey. I don't. I learned
072of Aubrey yesterday. She is the daughter of Steve and Lisa Wallace. And Aubrey sold 30 flats of strawberries. 30? 30. I think that someone that is committed to assisting the ag group needs a bit of recognition. So, thank you. Mr. Wilson. Not at this time. Ms. Duncan. I just wanted to express continued thanks and appreciation for not only the members on the board here, every member, but also the executive staff, the ones in the school board office, admin offices, classrooms, feeding, janitorial staff, bus drivers, car drivers, parents that are involved. I just wanted to say thank you because, as I've said before, it does take a village. Our village has changed. We're not the same village as what we used to be. There's many who are trying to keep the village, trying to hold it
073together. And I know sometimes you get weary, and I know sometimes you get tired, and I know sometimes you feel like you're at a loss, but it is just a moment in time. Keep hanging on. Keep striving. and keep going forward because one day all of your fruits, all of those seeds that you have planted will come back. So I just want to express my thanks. Yes, indeed. Thank you very much. I'd like to remind the board for our second operation that we come up on our next work session. And if there are any topics you wish to have on our next work session, please let Dr. Martin and Charlotte know. All right. Is there a closed meeting resolution? Pursuant to Section 2.237.11a of the Code of Virginia, I move that the Board convene a
074closed meeting for the purpose of discussing the following specific matters. Consideration for personnel for eight appointments. Two car drivers, one elementary teacher, one firefighting course. Support. one special education teacher, one principal, one assistant principal, and one English teacher. Information will be provided for five resignations and student matters, which was the carryover from items J and K in the consent agenda. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion?