001into order. Madame clerk, would you please announce the role? Thank you, Madame Chair. Present in the schoolboard chamber are Chair Brown, Vice Chair Williams, Mr. Bowensteel, Mr. Ken, Mr. Co Pepper, Mr. Cummings, Miss Dwire, Miss Felton, Dr. Green, Miss Melnik, and Miss Rogers. Thank you, Miss Lenetti. At this time, we are obviously experiencing broadcasting difficulties. So, this meeting can proceed in person pursuant to state law. Our bylaw 136 and 138 allow the chair and the superintendent to make decisions on how to proceed when you have an emergency circumstance. Right now we are under a tornado we're a watch or warning but it's causing enough difficulties for us with the weather that we do qualify as an emergency circumstance and the chair can make the determination on how to proceed with the meeting. So you can
002proceed in person. We are getting messages out on both the website and social media to let folks know that we are having technical difficulties and that we are proceeding with the meeting in person. And obviously if we're able to broadcast we will do so at a later date a later time. Thank you. And we are going to proceed um hopefully this will be resolved before our formal session but we have several important updates and then later we also have several personnel reportments appointments and then we also have some payroll deductions and signature things that are time sensitive. So we're going to go ahead and proceed. And so with that, we are on to schoolboard administrative matters and reports. And Mr. Co Pepper, I believe you were in line. No, I'm sorry. Okay. All right. And
003we're going to have to do a raise of hands. So, does anybody have anything to report? Miss Rogers, I just wanted to make a statement about um the end of the school year and thank all of our dedicated staff who um ushered our students through the end of this year and um are either on a well-deserved summer break or on a summer reprieve from um having to have students in the buildings. um thanking our custodians, thanking our staff um and the staff here that are here 12 months a year. I just really appreciate um that the end of the year went smoothly and that we got every student successfully through another year. All right. Thank you. Seeing Miss Felton, thank you. I just like to say that um I just like to congratulate all of
004my uh directors and principles for the grand uh graduations that we had. Starting off with our practical nursing department. It was really great. We had over 27 students to graduate from our nursing department, but all of our high schools, all of themies, it was fantastic. I enjoyed it and I think I believe I attended everyone. But it was grateful. I was grateful and thankful for all the things that the principal did and how our students got through all the honoraries, all the military efforts. And I just like to say to all of our principles, I would call names probably getting, but thank you principles for the great job that you done. All of the coaches, all of our teachers who were there making sure that all of that happened. And thank you, Dr. Robinson, for
005allowing such a grand uh graduation to take forward in our school. And I just appreciate all that you all did. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. And with that, we are going to go on to our workforce development update. And we welcome Dr. Sarah Lockett, director, office of technical and career education. that one. All right, we'll try that again. All right, good afternoon, Chairwoman Brown, Vice Chair Williams, members of the board, and Dr. Robertson. I am Dr. Sarah Lockett, and I'm honored to be here today to share an update about workforce development efforts across our 85 schools with our community partners and our higher education partners. Over the last few years, a vision for workforce efforts in Virginia Beach has developed as a series of touch points where students connect to with workforce experiences
006that help them shape their vision for future learning and future career pathways. This design for the student experience got its start in our discussions of academic and career planning during the creation of advisory content where staff focused on topics appro appropriate and beneficial at each level, elementary, middle, and high school. This afternoon, I would like to open our time together by recapping some of the experiences that currently serve as touch points in each student's pathway to future ready. Much of what I will share maps directly to Compass to 2030, specifically the strategy focused on career awareness, exploration, and experiences across K12. General awareness is developed throughout elementary school through classroom activities and lessons led by professional school counselors. However, fifth grade represents one of the first major workforce development touch points. This is the year
007where students are formally introduced to the industry's careers and skills that drive our region's economy. This is where the connection between classroom learning and future opportunities begins to come to life. Signature experiences such as Naval Air Station Oceanana's air show and STEM day and the STEM trifecta clubs provide students with engaging hands-on opportunities to explore career fields. interact with industry industry professionals and see real world applications of STEM concepts. These events provide the foundation for the idea that our workforce efforts must be grounded in purposeful interactions between local industry and our students at regular intervals throughout their educational experience. These early career connected experiences spark curiosity, broaden students awareness of future possibilities, and help them begin to identify their own interests and strengths. As the first step in a comprehensive K12 workforce development continuum, these
008experience estab experiences establish a foundation for future academic and career planning while building the mindset, skills, and confidence students need to become future ready learners. As students move into middle school, workforce development shifts from career awareness into intentional career exploration. Building on the foundation established in elementary school, students begin engaging in structured career exploration through advisory, where activities are intentionally sequenced across grades six, seven, and eight to meet Virginia's requirement for 70 hours of career exploration. During these years, students learn more about their interest, strengths, and career possibilities while developing an understanding of the education and skills required for various career pathways. Middle school students have opportunities to explore potential career interests through exploratory career and technical education courses providing hands-on experiences in a variety of high demand fields. The first signature experience during middle
009school school is the expedition porn of call, an innovative workforce exploration event for every seventh grader that was recently recognized with a Virginia school boards association innovation award. Through direct engagement with industry partners, students have the opportunity to try on careers and see what aligns with their interests while gaining valuable insight into the diverse career opportunities available in our region. Students also continue their involvement with their STEM trifecta clubs, allowing them to deepen their exploration of STEM learning, develop technical and leadership skills, and connect classroom learning to real world challenges. Together, these experiences help middle school students make informed decisions about future coursework, career pathways, and educational opportunities as they prepare for high school and beyond. The team is very proud of the work that went into the expedition this year. It is just the
010first step in reimagining career focused learning in the middle grades. Beginning in the 2627 school year, leadership will focus on expanding opportunities for students to connect to workforce. Like the expedition, the school board can expect to see work in adding additional experiences in sixth and eighth grade. Additionally, expect more CTE electives proposed to be available for high school credit during the middle school years in the future. By grades nine and 10, students move beyond career exploration and began actively connecting their interests to future education and career pathways. Building on the awareness developed in elementary school and in the exploration in middle school, students now have greater opportunities to personalize their learning and pursue areas of interest in more meaningful ways. Students gain access to a an expanded selection of career and technical education electives and
011can choose academy programs aligned with their career goals. For many students, this is also their first opportunity to enroll in programs at [clears throat] the advanced technology center where they can be begin developing specialized skills in high demand career fields while earning industry recognized credentials and college credit. STEM trifecta clubs continue to play an important role challenging students with more advanced projects that strengthen problem solving, teamwork, innovation, and technical skills. These experiences help students apply classroom learning to authentic real world challenges while preparing them for future academic and career success. A a key component of the high school experience is participation in career and technical student organization organizations or CTSOs. Every student has the opportunity to ga engage in leadership development, career focused activities and competitive events through organizations such as DECA, educ educators rising,
012FBLA, FCCLA, TSA and Skills USA. Through these experiences, students develop professional skills, build confidence, and expand their networks and demand and demonstrate their knowledge in regional, state, and national competitions. Together, these opportunities help students transis transition from exploratory careers to actively preparing for them. Creating a clear pathway for high school coursework to post-secary education, military service, apprenticeships, and careers. I've gone too far. Sorry. Um, give me one second. There we go. Sorry about that. By grades 11 and 12, career focused learning reaches its pinnacle. While while students continue learning, they move beyond exploration and prepare to actively demonstrate their skills, gaining real world experience and positioning themselves for success after graduation. Beginning in 11th grade, students have access to highly specialized programs at the career and technical centers, including pathways to the skilled trades, healthc
013care, and others that prepare them for some of the region's most in- demand careers. Through rigorous coursework, hands-on training, and and industry partnerships, students develop technical skills that translate directly to college apprenticeships, military service, and employment. Many students also participate in work-based learning experiences, inter internships, and other opportunities that allow them to apply their knowledge in a professional setting. These experiences help students build workplace skills, establish professional networks, and gain deeper understanding of career expert expectations and opportunities. At [snorts] this time, students also continue to strengthen their resumes through leadership experiences with our career and technical student organizations. Through these organizations, students demonstrate their learning in those competitive events and serve in leadership roles. This progress from awareness in elementary school to exploration in middle school to prep to preparation and specialization in high school
014illustrates the strength of the BBCPS workforce development pipeline. With the foundation established, we'd like to share some highlights from this year's accomplishments and preview several exciting new opportunities on the horizon. As we look at some of the great things happening in workforce, I'd like to start with our efforts in our own teacher pipeline. As part of the VBCPS commitment to building a strong local educator workforce, Virginia Beach City Public Schools was awarded the Virginia Department of Education's Grow Your Own Competitive Grant for teacher preparation, pre-apprenticeship, and pair professional development. We received $111,000 through this initiative. These funds are being used to remove barriers and expand opportunities for aspiring educators through transportation support for internships, funding for dual enrollment and college coursework for VTFT students, stipens for teachers supervising internships and parapro industry credential credential testing.
015The grant has two primary goals. first to increase the number of high school students participating in pre-apprenticeship experiences that introduce teaching as a career and second to increase the likelihood that these aspiring educators continue into a registered apprenticeship in teaching or a TRAP within their home division. It will also help the division maintain a connection with students after graduation as the division supports them through their college journey, increasing the likelihood that they returned to teach in the community where they grew up and attended school. Awarded in February 2026, the impact of this investment is already visible. Sorry. This summer, nine current Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow students or future teacher contract award recipients are enrolled in education courses at Tidewater Community College beyond the dual enrollment credits they that they earned during their high school time
016in high school during the school year. The grant funded 100% of this additional course work and the required textbooks. In addition, on May 21st, the division celebrated a major milestone by extending contracts to a record 50 future teachers. And these contracts were awarded at our career signing night. One of these future educators plans to take advantage of the teacher registered apprentice apprenticeship program or TRAP pathway by returning to Virginia Beach City Public Schools in the fall as a paraprofessional while attending college at Old Dominion University. This student represents exactly the type of long-term educator pipeline this grant was designed to create, supporting local students and preparing them for successful careers in education and ultimately bringing them back to serve the next generation of learners in Virginia Beach. Yeah, we're super excited about that. All right.
017Okay. Another exciting workforce development partnership is taking shape through the collaboration between the Virginia Beach City Public Schools, the Maritime Industrial Base, and the Hampton Roads Regional Maritime Training System. Through this partnership, BBCPS is expanding career training opportunities with construction of a third welding laboratory and classroom at the Renaissance Academy and Adult Learning Center. This project represents a $2 million investment in the facility and is scheduled for completion in July of 2026. Beginning in August 2026, high school students from across the division will have access to a new one credit introduction to welding course. 40 students each semester will be transported to the site to participate in hands-on instruction that introduces them to the hand to hands-on high demand maritime skilled trades careers. The new facility mirrors the successful welding lab model at the technical
018and career education center and has been designed to meet the needs of both students and workforce. The expansion includes a dedicated classroom, new locker room facilities, and a state-of-the-art welding laboratory equipped with 20 welding booths, a plasma cutter, iron workers, and other ind industry standard equipment. What makes this investment especially impactful is its dualpurpose design. During the school day, the facility will serve high school students exploring welding and maritime career pathways. After school and in the evenings, the space will support adult workforce training programs, providing recent graduates and community members with opportunities to gain skills and credentials needed to enter Virginia's growing maritime workforce. This partnership demonstrates the power of aligning K12 education, workforce development, and industry needs to create meaningful opportunities for students and adults while strengthening the regional economy. All right. Spring semester
019of 2027 marks the launch of a pilot partnership with between VBCPS and the Virginia Police Department and the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office to provide seniors with an immersive realorld law enforcement training experience. The pilot group of 20 students will come from the public safety 2 class at the technical and career education center. Future cohorts may come from a mix of settings. Selected students will spend half a day, three days per week at the Virginia Beach Police Academy during the spring semester, participating in hands-on instruction delivered by law enforcement professionals from both agencies. Training will mirror found foundational elements of police academy preparation and introduce students to the expectations of public safety careers. Students will engage in in experiences that include things like physical fitness for duty, CPR, cultural awareness, community engagement, police procedures and traffic
020stops, K9 operations and demonstrations, interrogation techniques and interview strategies, rules and of evidence and the laws of arrest, court procedures and and the judicial process, and guided tours of key components of our local judicial system. On the remaining two days each week, students will complete coursework through dual enrollment in criminal justice, ensuring they earn both academic credit and college level exposure. To further extend career readiness, students may apply to the patrol aid program with the Virginia Beach Police Department, providing a paid work-based learning experience of up to 28 hours per week. Graduates who are 18 years old are eligible to apply for the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office training program after they graduate from high school with the potential for immediate hire upon graduation. This pathway also serves as a direct pipeline into the Virginia Beach
021Police Department, giving students early exposure to the expectations of the Police Academy experience, which they may formally enter at age 20 and a half. Together, this pilot program builds collaborative partnership, bridging classroom learning to career placement in public safety roles within Virginia Beach. We're excited to watch this partnership develop as we reimagine existing courses. All right. Industry credential attainment continues to be one of the strongest indicators of success within our career and technical education programs and it remains a cornerstone of our efforts to prepare students for college career and life readiness. While final results for the 2526 school year are still being compiled. The data on your screen today points to another record setting year for our students. To date, Virginia Beach City Public School students have earned 16,649 industry credentials, and we anticipate that
022final numbers will be just a bit more. This year's efforts exceed last year's total by well over 2,000 industry credentials. This increase is largely attributed to um an increase in technical skill attainment, workplace readiness skills, and ASVAB industry credentials. Equally important to the overall count of credentials earned, we are seeing improvements in participation and in student performance. Across the board, credential attainment numbers have increased and pass rates continue to trend upward. Last year, students received an overall credential testing pass rate of 83.3%. While in the 2526 school year, that rate has risen to 85.1%, demonstrating both stronger preparation and greater student success across our programs. These results reflect the hard work of our students, the expertise of our teachers, and the commitment of our schools to ensuring students leave our program programs with credentials that
023validate their skills and increase their opportunities after graduation. These numbers also meaning are also meaningful through the compass to 2030 lens. Credential attainment is one of the ways we track progress on goal one, challenging and supporting students to excel and be future ready. As we look ahead to 2627, the career and technical education team will continue reflecting on our credentiing strategy to maximize value for our students and align with ne the needs of both the commonwealth and our regional economy. VBCPS will place increased emphasis on industry credentials identified by the Virginia Board of Education as high demand and those directly that directly support workforce priorities within Hampton Roads. At the same time, we will remain mindful of both budget constraints and student testing fatigue. As a result, credentials that do not support both graduation requirements
024and school accountability measures will begin to be phased out. This strategic shift will allow VP VBCPS to fund credentials that provide the greatest benefit to students while ensuring that testing supports both career preparation and school accountability. As we conclude our discussion of the K12 workforce pipeline, it's important to recognize the ultimate goal of this work is to provide students with meaningful opportunities to apply their learning in authentic settings and begin building their future careers. The 2526 school year presented several challenges related to work-based learning implementation. Throughout the year, divisions across the Commonwealth navigated significant changes in state policy, evolving accountability requirements, and delays in receiving guidance regarding pro program structures and documentation of expectations. Despite these challenges, our career and technical education team remained focused on what matters most. Creating highquality experiences that benefit students
025rather than allowing uncertainty around compliance measures to slow progress. We chose to prioritize meaningful learning opportunities and trust that quality experiences would ultimately align with state expectations. To support this effort, the division launched school links as our new platform for documenting work-based learning experiences and provided extensive training and support to school-based staff. Our schools embraced this transition and did an outstanding job documenting student participation and outcomes. While our final numbers are still being compiled, the results to date are noteworthy. More than 700 highquality work-based learning experiences have been documented during the 2526 school year thus far. The experiences represent over 86,000 hours of student engagement with in real world learning environments and an estimated economic impact of $1.3 million within our community. These numbers tell an important story. They represent students exploring careers, developing professional
026skills, building industry connections, and contributing meaningful value to local businesses and organizations. They represent the collective efforts of our teachers, our counselors, administrators, business partners, and families who make these opportunities possible. Most importantly, they demonstrate that our workforce pipeline is not simply a vision. It is producing tangible results for students today while helping build the workforce our community will need tomorrow. As we look ahead, I want to note that everything on the next slide connects to compass to 2030 and the and strategies focused on partnering with businesses for real real world experiences and leveraging community resources. This is our framework in action. The team is very proud of the work that went into adding each new workforce connection this year. Beginning in the 2627 school year, leadership will be focusing on expanding opportunities for students
027to connect to workforce in meaningful new ways as well. The school board can expect to see work around expanding regional opportunities in partnership with our neighbors, new programming around fire and EMS that builds on the work currently being done with the Virginia Beach Police Department and the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office and additional experiences for sixth and eighth graders through a proposed experential learning center. Thank you for your continued support of career and technical education and workforce development initiatives that prepare every student for success in college, career, and life. I'm happy to answer any questions you have at this time. Madam Chair, I just want to let you know we have been up and running streaming for a few minutes. And for the public's sake, we did not begin the meeting until 4:38. So, they've not
028missed significant amount. Okay. And just so the public's aware, we didn't take any formal action on anything and we've had a presentation on workforce development. Miss Rogers, thank you so much. It really [clears throat] is commendable how much work we've done on CTE. So I appreciate all the work that you've done and Dr. Robertson, the work that you've done. I do have a couple of questions, [clears throat] especially with regard to middle school. Um, do we have any CT electives in middle school that is across all of our middle schools? like something that is offered at every school. Yeah. All of our CTE electives are offered at every middle school. There there isn't there isn't um they're not pockets of that. So, we offer business, technology, education, family and consumer science. We don't currently offer
029any marketing like we do at the high school, but those three areas are across all schools. Um I think the only school that um had been lacking a program, and I think it was from lacking a teacher, uh Virginia Beach Middle did not have a teched program. Um, but that is changing in the fall. So, we've got two two new rooms back at BB Middle and they're reopening their program in the fall. Excellent. That's excellent news. I really do believe um as an educator that when you allow students to have the opportunity to explore different avenues, it really does put them on the path of this is what I like and this is where I want to go. and having all of these opportunities is so important for our our students so that it gives
030them the idea of um which path to take as they're headed towards graduation. Um one of the other things you talked about was partnering with our neighbors. So I'm not aware of other divisions that are you know around us that offer this kind of um supports and CTE. what are we looking at or are we ask are are they looking to come to us? I'm just curious and I can answer that or if you'd rather Dr. Robertson. Yeah. So, um the Virginia Beach community community roundt it's had several meetings recently about creating a regional CTE center. There was we had a presentation on the 15th last Monday that was uh done by the four CTE directors in Chesapeake, Portsouth, Virginia Beach, and Norphick uh who brought to the group ideas of phase one center programming
031and phase two center programming. Um in that meeting, Centa now has officially joined. We now have the automotive industry. There's a supervisor that represents the state. They want to join So, we're probably in August, we'll we'll build up a figure out which programs we want to bring back to the board that we can offer. Phase one would be fall of 2027. Phase two would be fall of 2028. We're going to start with the programs that don't require a brick and mortar building, right? Because that's going to be really difficult to get. even though we have partners that are willing to donate space, but for it to work for four school divisions, you got to have the right location or otherwise one school division will kind of be left out and we don't want that to
032happen. And SUFFK also wants to get involved. So that's kind of what we're talking about. So more to come. Uh probably hear about it in September. Awesome. Thank you so much. Um the only other thing I guess I wanted to add is um I don't have a middle schooler anymore. Um, but I do think it would be really awesome to be able to um introduce some of our middle schoolers too to like our Brock um program. I know that a lot of parents aren't even aware of some of the things that are happening there and if we can like introduce them to those things and the othermies. I know we do academy night but that's one of the programs that I feel like that they're like oh what's the environmental center and and actually it
033was when we did the expedition port of call where every seventh grader comes absolutely everybody. um themies and the Brock Center were there this year with that idea that even if the parents are unable to get them to an academy night, they get that um that piece and one of the reflections we got back from students was they asked about an academy because we had themies on the map with industries that were like them and I think we're going to put them all together so that they see them as one piece including Brock Center for next year and and then that is really intentional to make sure that every student sees it whether they make it to that nighttime event or not. Right. And that's so important. Like I said, it gives students the idea
034of, hey, I really enjoyed this piece. I like this idea and then a direction of where they want to go in high school. And having that setup, I cannot tell you how many parents I've spoken to who don't live in this area that this is where we shine with themies, all of these different avenues for our our students to learn. And it really is amazing. So, thank you. Thank you, Dr. Green. Thank you. And and Dr. Lockett, I don't have a question, but uh more of a um comment and accolades. Uh I see Mr. Jameson is here. So, I am happy to see that the partnership that um Dr. Kopniki and I started many years ago when I was an employee continues and has expanded greatly. I see our Renaissance Academy counselor, Miss Beard. Um,
035so I am very happy um about the upcoming welding program at Renaissance and and the alignment and taking advantage of our adult learners that could go at night. And one thing I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge even though that wasn't a part of your um presentation is thanking you for uh the programming with the aerospace and the medical program that is in place at Bayside High because a lot of times that's a long day if those students did not have that opportunity at those two remote sites um trying to get uh career and technical ed courses in if they had to travel to um North Landing or to ATC. So, thank you and thank you for the continuing partnership to ensure our students know about the opportunities and working with our school counselors.
036Yeah, you're welcome. We'll get that worked out. Great, Miss Dwire. Thank you. Um, I just want to say thank you for the expansion of the fire and the EMS programming. And I was thinking about it, maybe a nice um a nice added um category would be dispatching. So the the currently our public safety students do dispatching. it's it's part of their year one program and they do their industry credential for dispatching because it's one of those careers that bridges the time they can be a dispatcher at 18 while they're waiting for the police academy. So, um I I think you'll see that expand um as we split those programs out. Yeah. With EMS and yeah, it's been a great partnership and I really thank Dr. Robertson for helping push that along for us because great
037came from him. Thank you, Miss Malik. I really want to just take a moment to to really thank you for the opportunities now that exist at the Renaissance Academy because that just cannot serve as the end of the road for or the feeling of the end of the road for some of our kids. They need to know the opportunities that exist there. Um that although I know it's not CTE but that coupled with Dr. Robertson sports opportunities that um as I've always called it the a blip on the radar right but more than and the fact that students choose to stay there and these opportunities that are growing there that and our um future teachers for tomorrow that's such an important program um there was a time I've talked about this frequently where upstairs on
038the third floor I think there rows of um of file cabinets with applications in them and we had not enough jobs for all the people who wanted to be teachers and now that doesn't exist. So the fact that we are fostering our own um opportunity for our kids is just so very very important. So thank you for thank you for everything. No, we appreciate it. Okay, Vice Chair Williams. Yes. Thank you, Dr. locket and we've worked together for many years and just kudos kudos. This is just wonderful and and I know on the workforce development committee we talked about starting at a younger age and I really like that you do the touch points in fifth grade and then you're expanding it a lot through middle school. I really appreciate that. Um this is awesome
039stuff as as many options as we can give our students so when they graduate they they get to pick what they want to do. And I know that we learned or I learned that it's not either or in a lot of these cases. You can get certified. You can some places will help pay for your college. You know, it's not just either one or the other, but actually you can do CTE and workforce development and go to college, you know, but but again, a lot of choices. Um, just out of curiosity, can you refresh like I know our well and I'm so excited about the welding. Um, how many students did we like usually like turn down a year that couldn't get into welding? So, so when we started looking when we had one lab,
040we could take 20 students a year. That's an OSHA standard of 20 kids. And we were getting about 150 applications for those 20 spots. Wow. And that that's where we got the first round of Navy funding, which took us from taking 20 kids to taking 40 kids. But then that left us still with over 100 kids that were not being served. And that's where the the brainchild came up to do an intro to welding class because our maritime partners said, "Hey, we'll hire the kids and retrain them, but we want to know that they enjoy it. They have some aptitude. They have, you know, some knowledge." So, that's where we started with the one credit course. Um, it takes two blocks because they're going to travel. You all approved that over a year ago. Um,
041we've just been putting infrastructure in place to to make it a reality. Um, so those kids will be bust over at the start of first block, come in halfway through first block. So their their one credit class kind of straddles first and second block and then they'll go back to their home school. Um so they'll come in while Renaissance Academy is under uh already in class. Um and then the students from Renaissance who are in the class will get a little bit of extra time one-on-one with their teachers while everybody else is doing their transportation. So we're excited about that. But it allows us to bring in another 80 students a year, which gets us really close to to serving that 100 110 students that were left out after the the tech center application. So,
042um, super excited about that. And we may have some students that want a one credit class that didn't want to commit. So, we may see those numbers go up as Yeah, I think they will go up. I I really do. But, great, great job. Continue. Thank you. I briefly want to echo many thanks. Uh we have come a long way and this board has continued to support increasing workforce development and CTE and um this doesn't necessarily mean that somebody has to you know do this career but at least kind of feeling out what's a good fit and making it so that students have that opportunity to feel that out is a great thing. I am really excited about this program here for the police, let's see what we actually are calling it, [clears throat] the
043partnership with the Virginia Beach Police Department and Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office. Um, many people may know this or not, but the police department is over 80 police shy of um their needed police officers. And that affects us too when we have SRO's in our schools. Those are from the police department. And um you know, this is an honorable career and so I'm glad that we're offering our students the opportunity to explore if that's a good fit for them and that we're having that partnership. I know that city council is also probably happy about that as well. So thank you. Thank you for everything you do. All right. Thank you. Okay. We are going to try to get through here the facilities summer projects and welcome Miss Melissa Ingram, executive director, office of facility services. Thank
044you. Um, thank you. Good afternoon, uh, Chair Brown, Vice Chair Williams, members of the board, and Dr. Robertson. As executive director of facility services, I appreciate the opportunity today to provide you an overview of of our facility services summer projects and our operational activities planned for this summer. Uh today I'll highlight the major capital improvements, maintenance initiatives, and school readiness efforts that will take place across the division over the next summer months. And so starting um while this summer, you're again uh often summertime's associated with construction projects. Um however, it's not just construction projects, it's also summer learning operation supports and those extend far beyond the capital improvements that you often hear me talk about. Uh our work in facilities include both improvements and maintenance, preventative maintenance, technology upgrades, security assessments, custodial preparation, and operational
045support activities designed to ensure our schools remain safe, reliable, and ready for students and staff on the first day of school. Offices within BBCPS support a wide range of division activities, including summer learning programs, parks and recreation programs, leadership training, transportation operations, and meal services throughout our schools. This summer, we are managing maintenance projects at almost all sites and at more than and at more than 30 of them are large capital improvement projects. while simultaneously supporting these educational and community programs at over 50 locations throughout the division. A significant portion of our summer work focuses on maintaining and improving critical building systems. HVAC capital improvement projects are underway at approximately 10 schools and administrative facilities. These projects range from rooftop unit replacements in schools such as al as Allen and Penrook elementary schools and system
046replacements such as at College Park, Cook and Linhaven elementary schools to targeted improvements serving auditoriums and gymnasiums at Salem High School, data centers such as at here at the school administration building, indoor air quality or makeup air unit improvements such as at Point of View Elementary School and kitchens such as at Green Run Elementary School and Independence Middle School where HVAC will be added in the kitchens where there currently were none along with scratch cooking upgrades. These HVAC projects will improve temperature control, humidity management, energy efficiency, and overall system reliability, helping to create conducive learning environments that support student success. Turning to another critical building system, uh, roofing. We have roofing projects underway at six sites across the division this summer. The second phase of roofing replacement projects will be completed this summer at First
047Colonial High School and Linkhorn Park elementary schools, while new multi-phase roof replacement projects begin at Independence Middle School and Thalia Elementary School. Additional work includes structural preparation improvements at Luxford Elementary School for next year's planned roof project and roof gutter system upgrades at Larks Middle School. These roofing projects protect our facilities building envelopes, extend building life, and help prevent future maintenance issues. Additional critical systems with capital improvements this summer focus on structural integrity and life safety systems. Turning to foundation improvements, Bayside Middle School will complete the final phase of its foundation repair project, while Kempville Middle School continues year two of a planned three-year phase foundation project. Other major projects include window and door replacements at White Oaks Elementary School to support the building envelope and a fire alarm system replacement at Bayside High School.
048These improvements will enhance safety, reliability, and long-term building performance. Now, looking at some energy improvement projects we are undergoing this summer, we will complete two LED lighting conversion projects throughout the school buildings. One at White Oaks Elementary School and the second at Ocean Lakes High School, which will both provide lighting quality improvements at these schools while reducing energy consumption. You can see an example of the lighting quality difference on the first picture on this slide. This is a sideby-side comparison at Green Run High School taken several years ago. Fluorescent lighting on in the classroom on the left and LED lighting in the classroom on the right. Both lighting replacement projects for this summer began during spring break. Additionally, we'll continue our PPA or power purchase agreement to install solar panels to an additional school in
049our division, Newcastle Elementary School. Similar to the configuration at the second picture on this slide at Ocean Lakes Elementary School, this project will result in a lower rate of electricity at this site while being able to utilize energy produced off the off the grid through the use of the solar panels being installed. Several projects this summer focus on improving our open spaces through improved accessibility walkways and playgrounds and joint city venture of flooding prevention. ADA sidewalk improvements will continue at our middle school sites this summer, including completion of work at Plaza Middle School and new improvements at Kempville and Independence Middle Schools. The accessible playground courtyard will be improved that serves our divisionwide special education population at Penrookch Elementary School, including CEP student populations. Playground improvements will also be made at Corporate Landing Elementary School.
050Site improvements associated with the city's flood protection project along the Elizabeth River will be conducted by our city partners at Arrowhead Elementary School shorelines and trail system. Turning to some athletic improvements at Lancetown High School, installation of a new synthetic turf field is underway, providing a durable playing surface that will support yearround use. This project is similar in scope to the Tallwood High School turf project which is pictured here that occurred last year. However, the rubber track at Lancetown High School will not be replaced with this project due to the rubber track being located in a separate area on site and having been replaced less than 10 years ago. If you visit Lancetown, you'll see quite a bit of work going on as we started this project as well prior to spring break. Salem High
051School will receive a new gym bleachers that improve accessibility and spectator experience, while several elementary schools will receive resilient gym flooring replacements. You can see of an example of the transition from wood flooring to the new resilient flooring being installed at our elementary schools. On this slide in front of you at the bottom again, the resilient flooring is more supportive and easier to maintain. And this these pictures show the difference from last year's replacement at New Town Elementary School. And so we are proud to continue partnering with teaching and learning and federal blue forge grant process to expand career and technical education opportunities with this summer work being completed on a new welding laboratory at Renaissance Academy through a grant-f funed project which we just spoke about with Dr. Lockett. And again, as was done
052at the teched center pictured on the slide to the left, facility upgrades include ventilation, electrical infrastructure, and specialized equipment support systems that will allow the program to open for students at the start of this fall's 2627 school year. This project helps prepare students for high demand careers and strengthens works forth development opportunities within our division, particularly as we just discussed at this location at Renaissance Academy with the goal of leveraging this space for daytime high school students across the division and for nighttime students of the adult learning center. And as you've been briefed earlier this month, construction activities will also begin this summer for the tri campus additions. This slide illustrates the plan locations of these additions as well as general plan information that has been presented previously this month. This project is intended to
053get all students within the tri campus attendance zone into newer updated learning environments with fewer transitions during their elementary school career. And again, as I mentioned at the beginning of the slide, in addition to our capital projects, extensive maintenance and school readiness work occurs throughout the summer. Projects include classroom conversions, instructional space modifications, career and techn technical education support improvements, and a wide range of maintenance projects and preventative maintenance activities undergone by the offices of maintenance services, custodial and distribution services, department of technology, and the office of security and emergency management. Our maintenance teams will will perform work involving electrical systems, plumbing infrastructure, and underground storage tanks, flooring, doors, windows, casework, HVAC, intercom systems, elevators, and painting. Our custodial staff will also complete deep cleaning, floor stripping and waxing, and building preparation activities across the
054division. And as mentioned earlier, assessments and projects related to technology and security that are needed are also planned. While many of these projects are not highly visible, they are essential to ensuring schools are safe, clean, comfortable, and fully operational when students and staff return for the next school year. So, in closing, I'd like to um reflect on the extensive work that occurs each summer to maintain our facilities, support educational programs, and prepare our schools for students and staff. And take this opportunity to recognize and thank the supporting staff and departments for their dedication and hard work in planning over the last school year while maintaining our buildings throughout the year. Also, there are project implementation throughout the next several weeks as the summer work progress continues to completion. So, this concludes my presentation and I'm
055happy to answer any questions you might have. Miss Melnik, um on slide three, uh you gave you had a list of critical building systems and when you got to school administration, you said data center. Would you mind? Absolutely. So, every school has at least a data closet, sometimes referred to as an IDF. Okay. And so, as we um as we need our data and and our um internet capabilities, our broadcasting capabilities, there is al also need for cooling of those spaces. Okay. So, the HVAC um at that space in the the school administration building here right behind the Einstein lab was um getting outdated. And so, that's one of the projects that we had placed. Uh we started it uh this winter as it's not a school. So we started this winter and we'll continue
056it through the summer and then next winter to upgrade the HVAC system so that it supports um our data needs throughout not only this building but even across the division. Okay. Which is separate than the HVAC that this building went through when we were in Kellum for the old Kellum for correct. that HVAC was getting us off of the loop system that the city and you might have seen as you drove through the municipal center they were doing extensive work the city was doing extensive work on that system um in the last several months. So we are independent of the city system both in terms of our heating and cooling now and then the data center was something that we saved for a later date as we as we had to um look for funding
057for it. Thank you for that clarification. Thank you. Absolutely. I appreciate that clarification too because you know when you say data centers it kind of can be um controversial and and so um I appreciate that you're clarifying that it's not a typical data center and I won't belabor this because of time but thank you for everything that you all do. Absolutely. Thank you. So Dr. Robertson, do you think we have time to go over the quarterly forecast before we go to recess? I do. Okay. So, we have the quarterly forecast here in front of you. Of course, there's a lot of it uh there for the retreat, but I'll turn it over to Dr. Robertson to see if he has anything to add. Yeah. So, um I I I don't think that I need to
058go through with a meeting by meeting with you. I'll just tell you again, this is a planning document for us that we use to ensure that we're ahead of the game in terms of um those workshops and information items are going to be of interest to you or the public. uh this is not the end all to be all. So this is where we start with agenda planning and as things come up and I've talked to the chair today there was something that came up in senior staff yesterday that we feel like we need to get in front of the school board with. So that item is not even on this quarterly forecast. So this is a planning document that you can refer to. Uh but it is not the end it's not the final
059draft. It's a planning document we begin our work from. Thank you. And I just want to note uh for the school board the September 8th vaping update. That was a conversation that we all had and so I just want to make sure that I I highlight that. Um and then uh that's I think that's it. But um there may be a couple of meetings in here based on how heavy it is that we have to come in around 3:30. So in especially as we kind of come into the end of summertime based on what's on here. So all right. Well, with that, we are going to recess and we will reconvene at 6 PM for our formal meeting.