Virginia Board of Education Business Meeting 2/27/25

001e e e thank you to Reynolds Community College obviously for having us here today hosting our um two-day meeting series here at um Pam Road campus a little closer to home for me so it's nice um as customary for our board we will begin our meeting with the moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance so join me at a moment of silence please I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States St of America and to the rep for it stands one nation godible and justice for all we had uh extensive comments yesterday during our work session so I would like to ensure that we are efficient today in our business meeting um and so for that purpose we will move on into um approval of our agenda is there a motion

002to approve the agenda as presented so move Dr Northern Miss Kilgore Miss mcferson Miss Holton and chair votes I okay uh staff has provided the minutes to the members of the board in draft form before the meeting is there a motion to approve the minutes as presented to the board Northern Miss Kilgore Miss mcferson Miss Holton and chair votes Z so this morning we have a special student performance and as always the board appreciates the ability to have such wonderful um Performing Arts programs from across the Commonwealth having students perform in our meeting it's always the highlight of our Deb uh and Miss Kilgore is here to do our introduction for today's performance good morning the Thomas Dale performing arts department will present selections from their spring musical into the woods the production is a

003collaboration between the theater music dance and visual arts departments at Thomas stale High School especially Center for the Arts in Chesterfield County our amazing cast and crew will perform the full show March 21st through 23rd joining us today is Dr John Murray superintendent of Chesterfield County School Division Dr Robin yo Chesterfield County curriculum specialist for the Performing Arts Katherine Maola assistant principal Taylor Bernard director and music director Steven redin and Kristen Batson our students are delighted to share no one is alone and the finale from into the woods please join me in welcoming this group for e don't say that of course you were meant to have children look tell him the story of how it all happened be father and mother you'll know what to do sometimes [Music] Le For You Are Not [Music]

004Alone be all [Music] set what we our children not just [Music] some spell wish [Music] the Chan look small [Music] the got e e e um so moving on to public comment as stated in the board's bylaws it is the pleasure of the board to accept public comment on all matters matters related to public education in Virginia before we begin our public comment today I want to share a few comments about the manner in which public comment will be conducted I ask that you model professionalism dignity and respect for others as you share your thoughts today as adults it's important that we model respectful civil public discourse for our children and students who are either in attendance today or viewing this stream now or in the future when you begin please provide your name role

005or affiliation and where you live in Virginia all remarks must be directed to the chair not at any other individual speakers will have three minutes the screen right here will show uh your 3 minutes and the timer on the screen will be green when the 3 minutes is posted at one minute the screen will turn yellow and the screen will turn red when time is up at that point please promptly close your comments speakers May provide copies of their comments to Mr Joe crook who is sitting in the front here the Department's Regulatory and board coordinator all written comments received during public comment will be collected and provided to the board as soon as possible you may also email a copy of your remarks to the board at Bo doe. virginia.gov and this morning we

006will begin with Scott brabrand followed by Matt Delaney good morning president crey Dr Coons and members of the State Board of Education my name is Scott Bray brand and I'm executive director for VAs we appreciate all the work the state board and the VOE staff have done over the past few months since you all have last met today we are pleased to see the work that has been done around expanding the approved textbooks and instructional materials for math providing the appropriate and general assembly align update to the calculation for S students for graduation rates and sharing key information around the upcoming standard setting process we appreciate those efforts please know that we look forward around standard setting to your continued updates we learned a lot yesterday in your meeting um and we look forward to

007continuing to learn more as we prepare for the 25 26 school year for our superintendents and students and staff we also appreciate the updated draft around work-based learning experiences generally we appreciate the additional Clarity of high quality work-based learning experiences that checklist that's now been provided as well as the expanded definitions for the for designated work-based learning areas specifically our positive feedback includes the following the addition of VAP for internships and the inclusion of project search wwrc and other work-based learning experience programs for special education kids the expansion of school-based Enterprise to include entrepreneurship or student um businesses the clarification that an authentic work site can include virtual and simulated work and the reduction of the Min minimum required hours to 90 hours we appreciate all of that and we appreciate also the phased in

008approach and we look forward to partnering with Dr Coons and her staff to implement work-based learning experiences next year please know please know that we need a robust robust set of training materials and supports to support this highquality work-based learning experiences so that they can occur in every single School Division um your consideration of a Statewide tracking system to help monitor these experiences is also appreciated we've also talked about having a work-based coordinator in every school system and not every school district currently has the resources to do that but we're excited about the work is done and we look forward to partnering with you on these and other efforts as we prepare for the next school year thank you very much Matt Delaney followed by Lily B balance good morning president crey members of the

009Board of Education and Dr Coons my name is Matthew Delaney and I serve as the chief schools officer for Virginia Beach city public schools I'm here today to talk about seat time flexibility as was shared in yesterday's meeting uh with Doc by Dr Coons and Dr Armstrong we are really energized by the opportunity to implement seat time flexibility models in Virginia Beach city public schools I'd like to thank Dr Coons and Dr Armstrong for coming down to Virginia Beach to visit three of our high schools our principals teachers and students were so appreciative of your comments especially our students as Dr Coons reinforced to the group about the unique educational experience they were receiving in the Blended model and our principles appreciated the opportunity to share some barriers that like they'd like to be addressed

010moving forward our journey in Virginia Beach started in 2019 as all of our high schools and centers began working on red redesigning the high school uh experience what we called the four pillars of high school redesign specific components were given to all schools while also providing building leaders the flexibility to generate innovative ideas that best suited their student populations and the talents of their staff all of our high schools created school specific High School redesigned concept maps that outline what High School redesign would look like at their school culminating with graduates having the skills ensuring they are ready to be enrolled enlisted or be employed yesterday Dr Coon's reference to her visit to Bayside High School as one example in the biofit classroom when students complete this course they will receive two academic credits and

011a CPR certification they will have the opportunity to pass the life-saving exam lifeguarding exam giving them an opportunity to work as certified lifeguards and several of them will have the opportunity to become certified and personal trainer our students are engaging in Innovative learning experiences with tailored support all while maintaining Mastery expectations within the standards of learning now the challenge for us is to provide these experiences for all students a significant start is in the providing of seat time seat time requirements and work-based learning requirements have been a significant barrier for school divisions to find innovative ways to redesign a learning experience for students we greatly appreciate the board of education's willingness to look at Innovative opportunities and that you are providing School divisions with the permission to create alternative models to instructional time Virginia Beach

012is ready to partner with the Virginia Department of Education and school divisions across the common wealth on designing and launching these models we believe these efforts will have significant impact on our students families business partners and community at large thank you for all that you do to support education in Virginia Beach and have a wonderful day thank you Lily balance followed by Candace Lucas Lily here okay no Lily you're I um Lily balance is next followed by Candace Lucas so if Lily is not here then Candice Lucas is up good morning good morning board members my once again my name is Dr Candace Lucas I am a expert or recognized expert in the field of special education I uh attained that through over 30 years of experience as well as certifications through the vdoe as

013well as uh earned doctorate not given earned doctorate by from Liberty University and their law program I'm here once again to talk about the vdoes and the board of education's lack of oversight and supervision regarding uh special education now I've been called and referred to as an agitator and I wanted to share this with you because I'm in good company company when you can have truth and Dorothy Kennedy and several other individuals have their own book called The agitator so for those who call me the agitator agitators get rid of dirt and make things clean so that's my job that's my god-given assignment I heard uh chairman Cy talk about the training that the hearing officers are receiving and how they're so great the hearing officers are extremely incompetent they don't know the law they're

014trained to rule in favor of the school divisions in fact here in Officer Nelson ruled in favor of family zero times in two decades zero times in two decades here and officer Hardo ruled in favor of families three times in two decades and the most recent rulings that families have received have become from have come from me as well as Mr s alamine we have the highest win rate regarding due process which is why they're trying to change the law in Virginia because the board of education is failing to comply with Ida 20 USC 1412 A1 ida2 USC 1416 Ida 20 USC 1415 B1 and the section Section 504 the Rehabilitation Act 29 USC 749 you are engaging in the conspiracy to commit felony child abuse in Virginia felony child abuse means when you withhold

015vital services including special education services from students under the regulations case law for Forest Grove School District VTA you are required to intervene the minute we tell you that a school division is violating the law under Board of Education of of Hendrick Hudson Central School District V Rowley you are required to remove uh hearing officers who violate the law like Miss Nelson who told Sans Anderson Law Firm that they did not have to provide the IEP team with 3,000 medical documents from Carter gun a black child who was incarcerated in a facility thank you I want to make sure that you understand your thank you I I heard her don't do that don't do that I know don't tell him not to do that I was finishing up my comment and that is an act

016of intimidation so don't do that no don't do that understood don't thank you Kathy Halverson followed by Alex Halverson e good morning board Kathy Halverson powatan Virginia um I am here to speak out about um can you hold please they're having some technological difficulties okay you may begin Kathy Halverson power tan Virginia I'm here to speak out um on behalf of my son um myself and the corruption that is happening here in the state of Virginia um once again I have been here three and a half years speaking speaking that the board should have instituted 22.1 214e the first um letter is from Samantha Hollands giving palan County um two weeks I believe to Institute a policy and send my son to private placement that was not done that was back in 2023 then on

017August 28th Lisa sent a letter telling them that they had to send them no matter what and 30 days nothing still was not done then I received um this on from Jason Mya's Deb de Love August 31st of 2024 stating that the board should have intervened for 22.12 14 my son was out of school for three and a half years they collected money they are still collecting money a December one count stating he is a student the next page pending action's a student I had to enroll him in Liberty because they were going to file another chins on my husband and I that was not happening I was not going to lose my livelihood and my home over the corruption here in patan county in the state and I gave you some examples how the

018report card in 2122 is written by Tom Soler the next report card is from Samantha Hollands uh not Samantha Holland Samantha Martin she did not become president or for powatan County until July of this year tell me how is that possible then there's another page howon change history it shows that they actually went in and falsified all of my son's records June 10th of 2024 because we were in federal court Court it goes on it says that he was supposed to be homebased um in 2022 in 2021 then they State I did not state that I refused homebased services how's that possible when they have him homebased then they have him excused and then they said he was dropped from classes in 1028 of 2021 when he was actually a student and go going to

019powatan he didn't stop going to powatan County until 1117 when he was on the covid so when is the board going to take action and take licenses thank you and Institute 22.1 d214 thank you Alex Halverson is not here okay uh Cheryl Sims read his statement for him go ahead I'm just asking yeah it's in the back of your packets there's a picture of my son of course he got nervous this morning this is a pro um project he had to do with Liberty University and my son ended up writing about forgiveness because of how everybody has done him in my other school I faced an event that taught me a lot about forgiveness I had always I was always friendly and nice to people and loved everyone but I never thought how important it

020was to forgive others until this event happened with the workers at the school I attended I had attended the school since I started school and I would finish all my work and would help deliver things to class which I even remembered all the room numbers and teachers however one day in 2021 I got really upset because the teacher cussed at me I could not handle everything with her because she always yelled at me and made me sad the principal there were so many people and I just didn't know why so many people were there when all I wanted to do was finish my work but she screamed and it hurt my ear so bad I felt angry and sad because they were all mean to me and I still do not know what I did

021wrong I have prayed since that day on how to feel and what I should do with them and I can learn to forgive them in my life I got upset in 2021 with the teacher because she screamed at me and called me cuss words which I did not think was nice I wanted to finish my work but she yelled and I waited till tomorrow but she said no I was upset because I didn't feel I had done anything wrong but at that moment she started screaming and I yelled back because she yelled at me I got mad and everything went crazy my mom called for a meeting they admitted they couldn't teach me because I learned things too quick the years passed by and I even thought they were supposed to send a teacher but

022they never did not one teacher called to ask how I was I feel sad after 3 years my mom fighting with the school and education department I remember something my mom had said about forgiveness I would like to send a letter to the school and tell them my feelings and how much my mom and dad fought for my schooling it was all the tears I was able to see with my mom that made me strong and wanting fruit to give them because now I'm being taught lots of new things I'm so happy to finally be in school and see my grades because I can do anything I want with my faith now I need to get caught up to people that are my age through this experience I learned that forgiveness is a powerful way

023to heal a relationship it helped me understand that everyone makes mistakes thank you uh Cheryl Sims followed by Tammy McGee Cheryl Sims is not here Tammy McGee no Tammy McGee Jean Sakowski followed by Ellie Ellis Dr Jean soosi Woodbridge retired Madam chair the Virginia student is required to study genocide page three of the 2023 history and social science standard stats quote the student will study the horrors of wars and genocide unquote however no Source on genocide is listed in the standards my 12 March 2023 email to the board pointed out this deficiency which was one month before the board approved the 2023 standards as my email pointed out the foundational text on genocide is the 1948 genocide convention Article 2 defines genocide by specifying the four victim groups of of genocide in the five acts

024that constitute genocide that's genocide in a nutshell which is easily grasped by students and teachers genocide convention is international law in the United States as a signatory the concept of genocide did not exist in international law and polish Jewish lawyer Rafael Lin developed it in response to the atrocities committed by the Germans why do I make this point because standard Whi I9 excludes the 1948 genocide Convention as an important outcome of World War II it only lists the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which does not address genocide nor contain the word genocide nor is it legally binding so who excluded the 1948 genocide convention in the 2023 standards was it the same person who in the 2015 standards falsified two of the four victim groups of genocide did this person fear that if the

025genocide convention were included in the 2023 standards the falsified victim groups in the 2015 standards would be discovered National and ethnic groups were erased and in their place cultural and political groups were inserted poles are a national an ethnic group Roma are an ethnic group they were targeted for and subjected to genocide just as European Jews were and Poes were subjected to genocide well before polish and other European Jews this falsification was also in the first draft of the 2023 standards and it was further endorsed by the governor's Commission on combating anti-Semitism in Virginia on page page 19 of his report is it the same person who in the 2023 standards excluded poles in Roma as Hitler's genocide victims and only included European Jews the student is required to study genocide not the genocide of

026one group and in the case of World War II in Europe This undeniably requires the inclusion of Hitler's genocide of Poes in Roma I respectfully request that you investigate who wrote this standard and determine if pardon me and determine if it was the result of in incompetence or intent and I further request that you correct the standard by inserting the 1948 genocide Convention as an important outcome of World War II thank you thank you Ellie Ellis followed by Helen woo Ellie Ellis here Helen woo um my name is w I live in Lindon Virginia and I'm the head mistress I'm the head Mistress of Virginia International Academy and here I have a Roy Manu and M man with me and I'm here to thank you I'm here to uh yeah thank you looking for help

027desperately and some urgent help and uh let me introduce my school a little bit my uh school was founded in 2013 and we provide education to International students and we have been uh educated almost close to 300 students and most of them are in college or graduate school and some already get job in the US right now and they went to UVA Virginia Tech a lot of good schools including uh and also including Colombia Harvard uh uh Yan those are school so we can did provide good education our parents satisfaction rate is 100% at this point and this year when we uh relocate our campus to maratown which is a very small place in Shar uh shanid County and we uh we're doing the renovation and the um we're going to build a new gym

028the whole investment is about a $4 million and we hope to uh go back to the full operation in the fall and then we found a big problem we found that uh our accreditation agency we used before cognia was not recognized by vcpe so we uh look we talked to vcp and and we found there's a list of the approved agency we contact them and none of them will give us enough time to be able to um get the accreditation and to be in full operation in the fall so we're uh in trouble now and the uh we did the uh full uh economic impact analysis by professional Economist and our whole project were created 993 three jobs so the whole County including the Board of Supervisors in our County they fully support us they

029really want to see this happened and then uh also we um we talk to different agencies and some of them want to help us so I'm here desperately looking for help to see if I can get any kind of way to put our school back into operation either temporarily provisional or uh reinstatement of our membership with vcpe the reason we lost that was because in 20 2019 I got a breast cancer so I move all the office admin work to the other uh person and he resigned during covid time so the ball get dropped so I do take that as my responsibility but uh I don't know what to do now and when I told people that I'm coming here to the board all our teachers our parents and also the county they want to

030provide a fully support so I'm here looking for help I hope that we can get whatever method I can get from the board thank you so much Andrea dunnaville followed by Dr Laura Easter Andrea dunnaville Laura Easter good morning my name good morning my name is Dr Laura Easter and I'm the Chief Operating Officer for Elk Hill I'm here today to ask for your support in making it teach available to private specialized day schools I was very disappointed that it was moved from today's agenda because the need for this program is urgent and great elk Hill is a nonprofit serving mental health behavioral and special education needs of Children and Families in Central Virginia including three specialized private day schools serve public school special education students who need are not being successfully met in their

031home school day schools are licensed by vdoe and accredited by vasf students are referred to us by their public school placement is written in their IEP and the goal is for them to gain the skills needed to return to their public school they're funded by their localities students are most often placed with us because in addition to their learning differences they have co-occurring mental health and behavioral challenges so these are not only public school students but some of of the most challenging multiple suspensions for serious behavior infractions is a common reason for referrals to a private day school yet we compete for the same pool of licensed special education teachers as the public schools but we can't be competitive with public school salaries and benefits as the behavioral and mental health challenges of our students

032have intensified over the past 5 years finding qualified special education teachers has become even even more difficult our small class size sizes mean that to operate efficiently we need special education teachers licensed K through 12 so they can teach a variety of classes and are not limited to subject specific courses this further decreases an already small applicant pool it teach feels a crucial need for providing our students with highquality teachers who not only can address their learning differences but who also have an understanding and empathy for students with significant mental health and behavioral issues it teach would provide an affordable and time efficient pathway for some of our most dedicated and skilled staff to become licensed special education teachers including behavioral staff mental health professionals and career switchers although El Hill Prides itself on retaining

033staff longterm we recognize the intense academic emotional and behavioral needs of our students result in burning out for our teachers in about 5 years however most remain in the field most of them go to the public school thus the teachers we create in specialized private day schools will likely benefit special education students across Virginia for years to come thank you thank you Farah Fant followed by Winnie Gibson thank you good morning board members um my name is Farah I'm 19 years old B please yeah um my name is Farah I'm 19 years old I'm here to support Bill 20 2774 um about parental notification of in school overdoses um I just want to share a little bit of my testimony um I in I went to Harrisonburg High School in about 10th grade I was

034introduced to fentol I was um on track to graduate a year early with an advanced diploma um but when I tried this drug I didn't really know what it was it wasn't introduced to me um like a hard drug it was like a casual thing um and I quickly spired into a full out addiction it took my life over um and it just quickly caused my life to spiral I almost died multiple times I overdosed multiple times um and this is a very rampant issue in this school uh the teachers knew what was going on it was kind of openly being done there's kids walking down the hallways vaping um and it's just kind of being blatantly ignored um so by the time I was physically dependent on this um my mom had no idea

035that she was losing her child she had no idea what I was being EXP exposed to um so I just really support this bill um parents need to know what's going on teachers need to know how to administer Naran they need to know um they need to be provided with Naran um and I just am here to support that um there was multiple times my mom reached out to the school um and they just said well we don't really have time to deal with this they pushed it under the rug and it's very urgent there's kids dying I would argue that this is the most important issue here that we have to deal with because these kids aren't even having the chance to get through school and grow into an adulthood they're not even being

036educated on what this is um so I've been following this um through the house and the Senate um and prayerfully it passed through them and I just ask for you guys' support it's very very important and I think thank you for your support um by the grace of God I was pulled out of this addiction most kids once they fall into this they're done it was all I wanted um if it wasn't for God I would probably be dead and many kids many of my friends have passed because of this substance um it's being mixed into marijuana it's as easy to get as alcohol and weed um so I strongly urge you all to support this and um yeah thank you Winnie Gibson is Winnie Gibson here no okay at this time we will take

037any other um members of the audience who would like to speak publicly you can line up behind the microphone if there is no one then we will close the public comment period and at this time we'll take a f minute break please e e e and okay we are back and we are moving into the consent agenda uh just to make a note here the consent agenda item e for math uh for which there's a corresponding item R item e is the phase one approval item R is first review of the phase two approval so is there a motion to wave first review and approve the items on the consent agenda second okay Dr Northern Miss Kilgore Mr Hansen Miss mcferson Miss Holton and chair votes I okay moving on to item G first and

038final review of school connected overdose parent notification guidelines Dr Armstrong morning Madame President board members um we have the superintendent we recommend that the Board of Education approve the guidelines when school connected overdose policies response and pral notification following our uh presentation yesterday and Dialogue on First and final review is there a motion to wave first review and approve the guidelines on school connected overdose policies response and parental notification I have an alternative motion Sulton I'd like to move that the guidelines be uh accepted well and actually maybe discussion Maybe I can comment first May before I make my motion um well there's no motion well can we can we discuss the item yeah uh briefly thank you and this is brief I I'm grateful I think the department has done terrific job bringing uh

039folks together and seeking uh public feedback on this important topic it's a uh a challenging topic to to to figure out how best to help our students in such a a u tragic circumstance this young woman who shared bravely shared her story with us today reminds us how how important it is and I know uh people across the Commonwealth are trying to figure out how to uh best address it we've had some success and the governor's executive order and other actions have helped and and I'm grateful for all of that um and I think these guidelines will help uh the guidelines contain two sentences that are um inis factually in dispute and unnecessary to the import of the guidelines and I draw my colleagues attention to the language in the introduction um there are two

040lines three sentences excuse me um at the end of the second paragraph of the introduction of the guidelines that refer to some specific facts that happened in Lowden County in the fall of October of 23 uh referencing how many overdoses occurred and where and when and also suggesting that parents were not notified of of these life endangering events until at least 20 days later and those facts uh I think it's important for the board to understand that those facts are in dispute um um the uh the long time I mean excuse me the superintendent in Lowden uh who was previously a longtime highly respected superintendent in Virginia Beach responsible for some of the uh important Innovations we were hearing from uh uh yesterday in Virginia Beach and also in the public comment today uh U

041somebody whose Integrity is beyond question um has written a letter to Dr Coons uh um indicating that that information is not accurate and I think the gist of the disp is what notice what whether the notice that was sent to families was specific enough um and you divisions and principles are trying to balance student privacy with student safety and and the and just to be clear the notices that are in dispute were not the question isn't whether the parents of the child involved were notified that is not um um part of this cons that that's not the problem at all here the problem was what notice was sent to the community more broadly and the notice that was sent in Lowden was more General than our current guide our the guidelines under consideration would require

042and the the the guidelines requiring much more specific and much more prompt notification I think makes sense and I'm all on board and I think that that the I know that the superintendent uh um in lden is on board and has sent a letter um to Dr Coon's indicating but he specifically is disputing these facts and it just I have never seen guidelines reference a specific Division and specific events and specific students the way these guidelin I mean it doesn't reference the students by name but specific events in this way it adds nothing to the guidelines it's highly inappropriate uh to include this kind of specific language in guidelines it adds nothing to the guideline content and so I would encourage the board to um um and I'm prepared to make a motion to accept

043the guidelines deleting those three sentences that are in dispute I do have the letter from Dr Spence I just received it from Dr Coons this morning um and I'm happy to read it out loud I especially think that it's inappropriate for U this board to include that language in those guidelines on First and Final review today without reviewing the letter from Dr spencon you don't have it in front of you I can we can get it to you or I can read it aloud if people want to but specifically he says I also ask that you correct information he talks about the number of events and whether they were in school or out of school and suspected versus confirmed overdose that's some of the factual dispute but then he specifically says I also ask ask

044that you correct information on page three of the model guidance specifically the introduction states that lcps did not know notify parents until 20 days later this is not true I have shared similar information with others uh and and frankly I question why lcps must specifically be named at all in voes guidance or news release I find this disappointing at best and I'm not at all clear on how this enhances the model guidance in any way so I'm not asking that we resolve this factual dispute here today I'm just saying that there's no reason for us to include language specificly naming and calling out a division over facts that are in dispute in model guidance Mr Hansen yeah I cannot support know this alternative I do think that there are law enforcement and other officials who

045have come out very um powerfully in explaining the 20-day Challenge and um I don't have a I think it actually is helpful to us to identify um illustrations of the problem that we are trying to address with these overdose guidelines so I would not support Miss holton's offer here Dr Co um so the board knows the comments that were recorded by Dr Spence who attended a public comment hearing and multiple families who refuted his comments are in your folder Lowden County continues to object to language used by other officials summing up the number of related overdoses in a set number of time period that the division had last year superintendent Spence says that there were not nine related overdoses the Lowden County Sheriff says there were actually 11 recognizing the dispute between the school superintendent

046and the Lowden County Sheriff the guide before the board today does not site any definitive number of the related School overdoses regardless of whether the number is 9 or 11 there were a shocking number of school related overdoses in Lowden County last year and parents must be notified when these occur in around in their schools and the parents who were in the public comment from Lowden County were explicit with Dr Armstrong and I about the importance that we heard we also heard from a student today about the critical nature of communicating with our families and that that did not happen from Lowden County as you'll see in your public comment folder just if I may respond the letter from Dr I'm Sor Spence as you may I briefly M as you know Dr Coons the

047letter from Dr Spence was directed to you not to the board and therefore you declined to my request to place it in the public comment folder to make it available to all the board members uh but that letter it's it's not simply the numbers that's in dispute it's the what what what what notice was sent and Dr Spence quotes extensively from a notice that was sent before the governor's executive order to the parents of the entire school and he also reaffirms that none of this is he is completely supportive of the efforts uh to uh of the content of the guidelines this is not about what we should be doing going forward I think everybody is in agreement that we want this guidance guidelines helps reconcile the challenges and gives schools guidance on how to

048reconcile the balance between student privacy and student safety and and is full on board with that uh I've I've never seen and I I I I ask that you give me an example of a guideline document we have ever issued from this board that names a division and specific incidents in this kind of way thank you it hadn't happened is there a motion to wave first review and approve the guidelines on school connected overdose policies response and parental notification so my motion is to approve guidelines need to be recognized first thank you I'd like to make a motion I I would like to make a motion I think I spoke wait a minute no no no I recognize the next speaker Mr Hansen I spoke first Madam president and I would like to make my

049motion actually the chairman asked you can make a substitute motion I would like to make a substitute motion so we have to have a second to his motion and then you can make a substitute motion open so there is a motion on the flooor to wave first review and approve the guidelines is there a second no second okay I would like to make a substitute motion I would like to make a motion Miss Holton I would like to make a motion that we approve the guidelines as written with the language in the second paragraph starting the order was made through the language 20 days later three sentences deleted okay so we would be removing the order was made to the motion is the order was made to and move through four sentences beginning with the

050order was made so you would strike the order was made in direct response to nine students who overdosed on Fel from the same High School in Lowden County in October 2023 four of the student overdoses happened while at school the rest occurred off campus three of the students who overdosed on campus were given the anti-overdose drug naloxone and School staff also performed CPR on two of those students parents were not notified of these life-endangering events until at least 20 days later is that your motion yes that's the language that contains the dispute disputed facts and that's my motion okay Madame President can I speak to the motion discussion Miss Miss mcferson I the reason that I support the substitute motion is I don't okay is that I don't want any students to be unfairly identified

051in this situation it's difficult enough to have students come forward and support Provisions such as this and and U identifying the school and the number of students I think doesn't promote the regulation and I'm concerned about um students talking about who it was you know as this all becomes public and we move into a different direction I think we accomplished what we want to accomplish by having the guidelines Mr Hansen I would respectfully suggest though that students are not being identified here this is identifying um bad of management lack of leadership and attention to such a critical issue to protect children to protect parents to protect communities and I just think that this might miss holton's comment about um not being referenced before I don't know that as that's a fact but um I also

052don't think that we've had such a critical um concentration of events that are referenced in this language in the history of uh what I've seen living in the Commonwealth since 1964 so I think it's again incredibly appropriate and important to reference those things that will help us protect students protect parents and to bring the public awareness to this issue Madam president um I'm checking with the ends to see if they have comments first anyone have a comment down here no okay Miss mcferson I mean publicly we have the ability to discipline any superintendent uh there's a a process for that if we felt like there was um Behavior I mean I'm not saying it we as a Bo but I'm saying there's a process for correcting what we believe to be bad behavior but as

053it relates to policy and going forward I just don't think that that add anything to it I think that the Commonwealth is aware of the fact that this has been an issue and that we're trying to deal with the issue I just don't think that it has anything to okay so a substitute motion has been made and second um we're voting on The Substitute motion to re remove those four sentences that were read earlier uh Dr Northern Miss Kilgore ah Mr Hansen no Miss mcferson Miss Holton I chair votes no uh that motion passes four to two um H first and final review of policy for calc ating students with limited Andor interrupted formal education on the time gradu on the ontime graduation rate in accordance with chapter 623 of the acts of assembly of

0542024 Dr Meyers Madam president uh members of the board of Dr Coons um I'm here this morning to uh to tell you about a law that was enacted with the 2024 General Assembly um in in order to encourage elel life students to stay in high school and graduate the general assembly has directed the board to change how SLI students are counted in Virginia's ontime graduation and Dropout rates the board is required to adopt a policy that will not include s students in the calculation if they have not attended at least two semesters of high school as a result we are seeking to adopt this policy where the VOE data team will remove any student that has not attended high school for at least two semesters from the denominator when calculating ontime gradu and Dropout rates

055pretty straightforward with what they've directed us to do so we're here today to to try to get that complete okay is there a motion to wave first review and approve the adoption of this resolution and amendments to the guidance document any discussion Dr Northern Miss Kilgore Mr Hansen hi Miss mcferson hi Miss Holton I and chair votes I than you Dr Myers item I first and final review of the recommendation regarding literacy loan applications and approval for the release of of loan funds Miss Berta good morning president Cy members of the board Dr Coons VOE conducted One loan application process in fiscal year 2023 and two loan application processes during fiscal year 2024 for school divisions to apply apply for construction loans through the literary fund two School divisions before you today Giles and Rowan

056Oak Counties have applied for the loans in these three open application periods and have now submitted all the required documentation needed for their requests and the loans to be released by the board the item requests that the board approve the release of two literary loans as requested by the two applicant School divisions as follows a loan requested by Giles County to secure to add a secure entryway and elevator refurbishment at Narrows Elementary Middle School Giles is requesting a literary fund Loan in the amount of $650,000 payable over 30 years and is an eligible for a 2% annual loan interest rate a loan is requested by Rano County Schools to build Rano Career Technical education center at the Dana Burton Center for Arts and Technology site Rano county is requesting a literary loan for the project

057in the amount of 25 million payable over over 20 years and is eligible for a 3% annual loan interest rate both of these projects are attached um to your agenda as their applications it is recommended today that the board W first review and approve the release of the two literary fund loans as requested by the two applicants schools School divisions based on the loan amounts terms and eligible annual interest rates requested in their loan applications and in your executive summary happy to entertain any questions if you have any okay is there motion to wave first review and approve the release of the two literary fund loans requested by the two applicant School divisions based on the loan amounts terms and eligible annual interest rates requested in their loan applications and as presented in this item

058move Dr Northern or I'm sorry is there any discussion Dr Northern hi Miss Kilgore Mr Hans Miss mcferson Miss Holton I chair votes I thank you uh item J first and final review of guidelines for Distributing national board certification incentive Awards Mr Gilstrap uh president Cy Dr K's members of the board I bring good news um from our December meeting when we discussed national board certification and the funding uh whether it was going to be enough um one of the requests you had was to bring recommendations on how to SP the money in anticipation that we would not have enough to meet the needs uh as you can see through the executive summary portions we actually have $213,000 beyond what our requested number is at this point we do anticipate that there could be a

059few School divisions that did not submit on time and that money could be consumed by those requests um I also wanted to point out on this information it's asteris on here but I'll point it out that we did have have initial Awards in January but there were a few divisions that made adjustments and that is calculated in here with about $247,000 uh to the initial and uh continuing status uh page three of of your documents starts the guidance document that we have the guidelines for um in the event that we would not have enough money and we did incorporate all your suggestions within this document uh the procedures to fill all Awards would be where you would notice that if you were to review that section there and finally the action requested um for this

060year's budget language uh we had to take priority to to fund the initial which we already have and the continuing which we already have we have our plan for how we would fund the remaining and upon your guidance we will do that immediately uh the superintendent of Public Instruction recommends that the Board of Education accept for first review and final review the request to revise the guidelines as you can see in this document for Distributing national board certification incentive Awards thank you Mr Gilstrap and we also appreciate your responsiveness uh within the executive summary that you provided um that the board had requested that particular data and information and so thank you so much for for that so is there a motion to wave first review and approve the revisions to the guidelines for Distributing

061national boards certification Inc of awards I'll move it any discussion Miss Holton just to say thank you to Mr Gilstrap for the hard work making it work thanks any other discussion Dr Northern hi Miss Kilgore hi Mr Hansen hi Miss mcferson hi Miss Holton I chair votes I okay item K first and final review of Mastery level standard setting Review Committee process Miss Cooper good morning president crey members of the board and Dr Coons as you all heard yesterday this is the first time the standard setting review process has been brought to the board we sought input from our technical advisory committee the center for assessment and the national assessment governing board on this process that includes four key phases the selection training convening and input of the standard setting process the superintendent of Public

062Instruction recommends that the board receive for first and final review the proposed recommendation for the standard setting committee Dr Cooper you meant the committee process the selection of the committee okay okay is there a motion to wave first review and approve the proposed recommendation for the Mastery level standard setting process the committee process have time for discussion first um once there's a motion I'll move the motion is there any discussion thank you Miss Holton yes so first if I can just clarify am I correct that what we're being asked to approve today is simply the committee process that the review process that the committee will be assisting us with that's on for only first review later on the agenda that's correct thank you uh and as to the committee process U uh can uh Dr

063Coons or or M can one of you address we heard from um uh Mr Dr domaleski yesterday uh some thoughts about um the criteria for the non-teacher participants um he suggested that in other states that have typically been uh U geographically geographic cross-sections demographic cross-sections have included a cross-section across different careers and also included um uh uh advocates for um special education English language Learners I don't see any of that in the uh guideline document um but can you affirm what the Department's intention is on that today Dr absolutely he um Dr deeski is closely aligned with us we are also working with national experts at Nagi to make sure that we are using best practices that are representative geographically we have always used geographic representation but the additional components as he spoke to the

064business members higher education and diverse representation from parents and Educators is incredibly important also those minimum criteria of knowing and having represent of the content area um children and what an assessment entails will be part of that application process and so just to be clear that Miss Holton thank you will include demographic cross-section and also representation of U elll and special ed those were some of Dr Don's uh comments yesterday I just wanted to make sure that that's part of your criteria I I don't know about the demographics I will have to get back to you on the demographics all the other things are part of the rubric process well um I would just encourage the department I would just encourage the department that the value of demogra as Dr domaleski said yesterday the process

065is key to having support for the outcome that there's no magic to one way of determining these standard setting versus another but that having the process have integrity is key and having a a cross-section of that's representative of the Commonwealth demographically economically Etc is um at least as important as as the other criteria thank you madam president miss mcferson is it also possible just like we did with Workforce Development if the board wants to make some recommendations of review the list or give some possible names for them to consider would that be inacceptable Dr K we'd be happy to pass out the application process and make sure that the board is aware of that so you can encourage different stakeholders to be part of that the board is also welcom to be part of that

066process as well I also have one other question Madam president miss Holton so U and the other thing that we discussed and I I don't need to be um a meaning to help make this process as uh successful as possible with this comment um there was a discussion yesterday about the timing and I understood from Dr domaleski and I'm not sure whether this is appropriate to this item or or later but I'll raise it here because it may be relevant to this item that Dr domaleski suggested that the best way to do standard setting with an ID matching method is to have a full operational test Administration given that we've made changes in our tests and our standards and our tests that this year uh and that we've waited this long um I'm curious as

067to why we're not waiting one more month so that we can have the full test Administration available rather than I don't and and if we don't have the full test Administration available what are the Department's plans what are we going to do if we don't if you could just hold that question because that's not part of this particular item and I really don't think that it's appropriate to confuse the board members on what we're actually voting on for this particular item so if you can hold that comment for the coming item so so just to be clear this process setting up the Committees it does have some references to schedules oops sorry it has some reference to schedules but those schedules aren't binding in other words if we decide on a slower process um this

068item won't bind us on that Dr Coons this is the process for selecting the committee not the dates the committee will be required to attend thank you okay so we have a motion made and seconded to wave first review and approve the proposed recommendation for the Mastery level standard setting Pro committee process Dr Northern hi Miss Kilgore Mr Hansen Miss mcferson Miss Holton I and chair votes I um item L first and final review of guidance documents for reduction Mr Chapman thank you morning president crey members of the board superintendent Coons um this item I think is relatively simple as most of you know we have been on a a clean of our guidance document role over the past year and what we have here is two documents that um we believe uh should be

069removed from the list of certified guidance documents that the board has um one of those the first the guidelines on the management of student scol Scholastic record in the public schools of Virginia um is actually not a document that we think ever went to the board we can't find any record of that but since it's now been certified by the board we think it's appropriate to bring that to the board just to make sure that um that the board approves of removing it um the second document the uh economics education financial literacy obcs and correlations this is really just a kind of a crosswalk document between uh you know what used to be um what what sorry now has an economics so and the uh math so which is of course out of since the

070board has approved new um material um both of these documents are the subject of revisions that we think removing them from town hall because we don't think they meet the definition help clear up some process issues for the for the Department um the guidelines for management of student Scholastic records uh we actually have a leg a legislatively mandated change that we have to do um and so we since we were looking at the document we don't think it meets the definition of a guidance document we would you know want to request permission to remove it um and the same thing since the the economics uh is a the economics document is an document and the S sols by Statute are not regulations we don't think this is appropriate for Town Hall um but that that

071document is under revision as well in order to make sure it's aligned with the new math standards thank you Mr Chapman is there a motion to wave first review and approve this item and remove the guidance document identified from town hall any discussion Dr Northern hi Miss Kilgore Mr Hansen hi Miss mcferson Miss Holton I and chair votes I okay um item M you're still up thank you first and final review the finalization of periodic reviews of regulations thank you president crey um yes this item is uh becoming a regular uh for the board we are just closing out periodic reviews we do have some recommendations for Action as a result of these periodic reviews most of which I will describe as as very modest I believe three of the chapters were recommending retain as

072is just because they're required by Statute um or they're currently serving their purpose there are a couple of minor um you know edits that we would like to bring back in Future uh uh actions for the board to consider um uh the management of student Scholastic records we think this chapter basically devolves into uh requiring School divisions to follow furpa and so we think that this can be condensed fairly significantly to uh require that the the same in the same content but be moved under chapter 720 which is the regulations governing um local school boards and school divisions so the same content just shorter and in a single location so we don't have as many open chapters for the board um we believe that 340 which is our regulations governing driver education in the process

073of the periodic review we located one um uh one issue that has been changed from the DMV side which is the difference between our regs requiring a uh I think a 90day temporary driver's license um but that has been uh lengthened to 180 days through DMV and so we would like to align the board's regulations with the current DMV policy um and how they issue those uh the regulations governing division superintendence of schools um there's actually a chap a section of this chapter outlining qualifications for the superintendent that conflict with chapter 23 the licensure regulations for school Personnel so we think that section 10 should be stricken um it appears that that was the case through reg action about 10 years ago but that regulatory action was never never finalized um and so we think

074we can remove the conflict uh with chapter 23 and make sure that the board's regulations are are a little bit more clear um and then we have a a similar issue with 410 which is our regulations governing allowable credit for teaching experience um this chapter really serves as a definition Within Chapter 23 um and so we think the same thing should apply that we can just move this um little section of this chapter into chapter 23 as a definition of allowable teaching experience um and so it'll serve the purpose within the regulatory chapter it appears to be amending but again all of those will be the subject to Future actions that we will bring back to the board this is just uh requesting to close the periodic reviews is there a motion to wave first

075review and approve the closing of the periodic reviews on the regulatory chapters identified in this item as presented to the board any discussion Dr Northern hi Miss Kilgore Mr Hansen Miss mcferson Miss Holton I and chair votes I item n Dr Armstrong thank you Mr Chapman final review of high quality work-based learning definition experiences and evaluation criteria thank you m president and board members following our December work session as well as yesterday's presentation and discussion I would like to recommend that the board approve the highquality work-based learning definition experiences and evaluation criteria today on Final review okay is there a motion to approve the highquality work-based learning definition experiences and evaluation criteria move second is there any discussion Dr Northern Miss Kilgore Mr Hansen Miss mcferson Miss Holton I chair votes I okay um item

076o first review of seat time flexibility notice Dr Armstrong thank you madam president again following yesterday's presentation and dialogue we would like to recommend that the board receive the seat time flexibility notice on first review and anticipation of our March meeting for final review thank you we will accept this item for first review and see you in March thank um item P Mr Chapman is up again first review of proposed stage to align with item 130h of chapter 2 of the acts of assembly 2022 special session 1 8 vac 20- 671 thank you so much president crey members of the board superintendent Coons um this is the proposed stage of a Nora that was opened about 6 months ago um all of which is designed to fulfill a legislative mandate um in order to make

077uh develop and pro promulgate regulations for private special education day schools on restraint disclusion that establish the same requirements for rest straint and seclusion as those for public schools um this regulatory action actually been before the board in a few different forms it was originally a FastTrack action that was approved back at the beginning of 2022 I believe um got stuck in executive branch review um and because it was dealing with a subject matter that was considered controversial by dpb came came back and open to the full regulatory process um the board has approved text um that has not changed since 2022 um is designed to fulfill that legislative mandate we're basically just taking the exact same requirements that are available for public schools um and making those those same requirements for private special education

078day schools we' worked with the Attorney General's office on this language um and you know so this is the first review of the proposed stage uh after it comes back for the second review of the prop proposed stage uh next month it'll go out for the 60-day public comment thank you Mr Chapman we will accept this item for first review and see you in March um let's do item q and then we're going to take a quick break after item Q um is Miss Cooper here we can take a break now if you guys want let's go ahead and do that we'll take our F minute break now sorry give you guys a second e e e um so Dr Wallace you are doing item Q please okay good after uh good morning president CC

079members of the board and Dr Coons I'm here to present the first review of the grade 6 through eight Virginia literacy act supplemental and Intervention Program guides these guides have been reviewed by the University of Virginia the v through the Virginia literacy partnership as required by the Virginia literacy Act and the list provides School divisions with approved options that have met the bar for Quality through the materials review process divisions can select supplemental programs in six through eight to support additional time on literacy skills and also intervention curricula for students who need additional support to master key skills um you have seen these program guides in previous forms for K through five this brings to you a list for grades six through eight for first review and we uh recommend that the board receive for

080first review this recommend recommended list for both six through eight interv intervention instructional programs and supplemental instructional programs to comply with the vaa you have both program guides in your packets as attachments thank you so much we will accept this item for first review and see you in March and then you also have R correct correct first review of additional proposed state approved textbooks and instructional materials for K12 mathematics yes and so you have already approved one list of math textbooks and so we're gracious for that um we are excited to expand our list of instructional materials so you know that there is a process by which we go through that is your board approved process for review of textbooks and instructional materials um at the October meeting the board suggested that we expand and

081possibly open up an additional cycle for review of the math textbooks to offer the field greater options and so that is what we have done we do have the review timeline in your packet and you can see um we've really been working on this for about a year to bring you quality instruction materials in math and we're excited that the list was able to expand with this last cycle of review I would like to give a shout out to our 90 plus Educators and Virginia Department of Education staff who took time individually to review materials and then come together for a consensus review with the additional materials pretty much in record time since the October board meeting and um they have done so we've all with an additional validation step to the textbook and instructional

082materials review process with an National expert uh with expertise in highquality instruction materials and curriculum that added an additional layer of review to make sure that we're providing quality products to our school divisions um and so we did have a materials rubric that was in alignment with the correlation to the standards of learning and then also a rubric on instructional design and support which reflects those core instructional uh practices that teachers can expect with a good quality high quality instruction materials or curriculum based program um we went through of course your the regular textbook I won't go through all the bullets on the slide but we went through the regular uh process to solicit additional reviewers for this last review and then um provided additional publisher support this time so not only did we reach

083out to Publishers soliciting for them to present materials for review but we provided them with a chart that compared the common core standards to Virginia standards so that we could better align their products that exist with the Virginia standards thus giving us a great greater pool to review in this last cycle and so following uh today's recommendation for first review there will be a 30-day public comment period and then we would bring these materials back to you for final review in March thank you Dr Wallace we will accept this item on first review and again this is the continuation from item e of the consent agenda earlier but for the second phase so thank you very much okay thank you okay item s Miss Cooper first review of Mastery level standard setting review process good

084morning over the past three years the board has prioritized raising expectations for Virginia students through the adoption of more rigorous standards of learning and through the approval of a new school performance and support framework VOE has also redesigned Summit of Assessments to be more Innovative and fully measure the rigor of the new standards building on this Foundation the board must set new assessment cut scores on these Summit of Assessments to align proficiency to the increasing demands of the workplace and Benchmark to the highest definitions in the nation today we have for first review the recommendation for the standard setting process of shifting from the angof method to the ID method during standard setting the superintendent recommends that the board receive this for first review the proposed recommendation of the standard setting process so we will

085accept this item for first review and see you in March are we not going to presentation today we had we had a presentation yesterday from Dr doeski but I don't think we went through the process with him at any length yesterday and assuming for the Public's sake and our sake we were going to have go through it today how are how are we proceeding today just this being one of our most important responsibilities I can share this was the presentation that's displayed right now is the presentation that Dr D meski did yesterday but um to recap the training process that I um talked through with the other item is really to make sure that all of the selected committee members are getting ready to prepare for that standard setting convening so they're going through multiple

086types of training the first type of training that's specifically provided to the community members is to get them a foundation of the SOS what our assessment design process looks like why we do standard setting and then all of the committee members will go through additional training on the item types they'll also do a pilot Run for the community members and then everyone on the Committees will do a dress rehearsal to make sure that they're prepared for the entire convening process of setting the recommendations for the cut scores that process will um use the angof me not the angof method but the ID method matching from yesterday that Dr D domaleski shared that process also included a timeline of going from the committee training which is in April the convening in May the first and final

087review of this cut scores in June and July and then School divisions would receive training materials and resources and then preliminary data at the end of the summer and early fall Dr k i I don't think the board has v voted on what method yet I think that's the first review and this is a high level so you're going over the structured process but the Board needs to vote on what method so I don't want to make an assumption I just want to back that statement up just a little bit the board will vote final review next time on the type of method as Dr domaleski said the TAC is meeting with us monthly they're coming in next week we will continue to get to the granularity of the process Dr domaleski reminded the board

088that we are asking for first review and recommending the ID matching which is what I think Miss Cooper meant is that that is the intent is to move forward based on the board's decision for final review in March any further questions or comments on this Miss Holton so I thought and maybe I'm just mixing myself up but I thought I had seen something in the materials um and if not I would appreciate you helping us today understand you had set out the process that this is first review we're not being asked to vote on it today but the process and the timeline for what what's going to happen between now and it was there not a presentation a separate presentation or a separate document that set that out help me find that yeah those are

089all draft materials as part of the process to make sure the board is informed of the voting timeline this is the first review Dr domaleski was reviewing the methodology which is under first review we will bring as M mentioned yesterday it is critical for the board and as you mentioned for the board to be engaged at every step of that process M wanted to draft that process out for you obviously this is first review there is no decision point on specific dates that will be brought today because we are talking about the first review of the process and the methodology so there's not a document that sets out I'm sorry there's not a document that sets out those that timeline I thought the timeline was in a one of the presentations yesterday help me understand

090where it is just so I can find it I think you're referring to the timeline that was in that was attached to the other item which had the committee selection process and timeline on today or was it on yesterday that was yesterday there were there were I think it was the second to last slide and it outlined the months in which those things would take place so can we pull that up I think it would be helpful and if not I can I can ask my my question while this would be uh uh an attachment to the work session item yesterday is that if we can should be can we identify what that was so that it can be pulled up is the standard setting committee selection process presentation from yesterday it wasn't the domaleski

091presentation it was a separate item was it thank you that because we really didn't go through that yesterday unless I missed it the name of the presentation was Virginia's proposed standard setting plan perfect thank you okay that's the one I I'm still not finding it on my machine but I can see it up there there you go um uh so um and this is part of what we're going to be asked to approve next month is that correct yes yes okay so um um uh first um just uh um well one technical thing the the the the item for today item there were a number of references to math experts when you mean to be referring to math or literacy or um science experts as appropriate I think so that's just a technical edit you

092may want to take a look through the document it was written as if math was the only set of Standards up for review the the the second substantive issue I have is uh timing and you heard my questions to Dr domanoski yesterday um help me understand how we can do reviews in late May why why do why do we want to do these reviews in late May when we're not he he is recommending that we have the full operational assessments the results of our tests are not going to be done by then but we'll be done a month later so why are we uh why why may instead of June and I'll and I'll raise a second timing issue which is as you know we've traditionally done this standard setting process in the fall when

093we're asking teachers to volunteer to participate and asking superintendents to allow them to be part of this process we are normally doing it when it's not at quite a um such a high high um demand time for our teachers and you need you know 100 100 plus teachers for this process to be taking teachers out of the classroom for both the training and the standard setting in April and May right in in the high of Test season um help me understand why that timeline makes sense sure so I think there's a couple important things the first one is along with other major initiatives we've released including this one we've heard time and time again from division superintendent and Educators that they want more time to be able to understand anything that's new to receive training

094and resources and that being done prior to the school year so this timeline allows us to produce those trainings and resources before the start of the school year so that divisions can use that in their PD days during the summer so that they're not being taken out of the classroom in the fall for training so that's super important to our superintendent and our principal so this timeline allows that to happen it also allows divisions to receive preliminary data early in the fall and not have to wait to the winter to receive that data as they're learning all of these new components as well I think another thing that's important to note is um when we reviewed this process with our technical advisory committee and other National experts they um said similar things around making sure

095that there's a threshold of data that we meet before we use that data in the standard setting process and we've um confirmed that that would happen at the end of the testing window we've also looked at prior Year's history of when we have test completers and the overwhelming majority of our divisions are completing their test before that made timeline so they have a larger window but they're starting that more in the beginning but am I not so is is the thank you is the plan to use this year's test data but just the ones that have been completed before late May no as Dr domaleski stated yesterday on multiple occasions when you asked them these questions yesterday the intent is to do that training process and take that data as I stated earlier the TAC

096will be reviewing and helping us work through the process there is nothing that says April or May it says spring we are working through the granular pieces of this with our Tac and with our national experts to make sure that we are following an evidence-based process as Dr domaleski stated at the same time as M stated we are trying to be responsive to the request of Educators you heard our um vast president say today the more training the more support the more information we have earlier the better off we are so we are doing both things we are making sure we're following an evidence-based process under the advisement of our Tac and making sure our school divisions and our Educators have time to do that we have worked with our Educators to make sure that

097we have time for them when they are available to make sure this process happens that is part of our due diligence and that is why many things on here say spring June and July so that we can make sure we're responsive to the experts in the field and their support so um Miss Holton thank you uh yeah I so there was another document that said late May was when the standard setting was going to happen and that the training was going to happen before then and I'm not finding it and I apologize maybe that document's been withdrawn or maybe it's somewhere else but I uh uh I don't understand how and in particular some of our largest divisions I believe Virginia Beach and and Fairfax represent 25% of the state don't complete testing until late

098because they're trying to help get in as much education as possible so can you help me understand what what impact data are we planning to use to do the ordered um the ordered um item books the data from the spring 2025 so we are planning to use this Spring's test Administration not field test data and not partial data but this Springs test Administration data Dr KES that is what Dr moleski said twice yesterday no that's not what I heard from I didn't hear a he said he repeated that after you said the other thing he said we are using this year's data okay well well I'm sorry if I didn't hear that yesterday and I appreciate we're going to use the spring data so we're going to wait until the spring testing season is complete

099substantially complete we are going to work with our Tac and under their advisement work through the granularity of the process as Dr domaleski stated yesterday we are meeting with our Tac next week as we move through the granularity of the process we will be bringing very detailed updates to the board every month to make sure that you are invested and aware and have opportunities to give feedback as Miss mcferson asked earlier in the committee process the board will be intimately involved in each step I I appreciate that and when we come back for this on Final review perhaps we can have a more confirmed timeline and you can help us understand how we're going to have this year's impact this year's test data uh feed into the outcomes um Madam president I have another question

100go ahead or disc actually this is discussion if I may is it on this item yes uh so I appreciate Dr Coon's reminding all of us that this is um a fundamental Board responsibility number one and number two we have not made any decisions yet uh about U the process for this year so that will be before us next month there are some fundamental changes that are being recommended U uh the frankly as Dr D he said the change from Ang off to ID matching is maybe not that big a change but this change where there's going to be a second round of consideration or or an an additional piece of information um which is uh seeking to align our standards uh our standard setting to the nape proficiency level that is a board decision

101that the board has not yet made and it may well be the decision that this board is that the board May well be moving in that direction but I and I um you know I don't I don't um uh I don't have a strong feeling on whether which way we should go on that but Virginia has historically aligned our cut scores to um closer to Nate basic are they are our standards probably too low but when they're falling well below L Nate basic as they have on some occasions probably yes and so it makes sense to add address them I think uh uh I concur with that Spirit whether or not it makes sense to align them dramatically differently 30 points 40 points differently all the way to Nate proficient is a a a question

102that this board will have to wrestle with and own the consequences of and the one uh uh one thing I want it to be understood is that the proposal here is that we essentially decide ahead of time that our cut that our students are going to fail at a much higher rate and then there's reasons to do that but that we're deciding ahead of time that we're going to change the we're going to raise the height of the basketball hoop in hopes that that's going to help students shoot higher um and and and who knows maybe it will there's certainly no evidence I've been shown and Dr liski was not able to give us any and uh Dr Northern and I had a had a conversation yesterday about what the research shows and I won't

103repeat all that but I don't think the evidence shows that changing cut scores it may not do any harm but it may not have much benefit what really has benefit is what we do that helps students learn more and answer more questions correctly you know it's not it's not how many uh it's not where we draw the line but what helps students get more answers right because they know more uh that really matters and that's what I suggest our Focus should be but we are the pro process we're being um submitted is one that is going to define the outcome ahead of time before the students actually start taking the tests we're going to define the outcomes that many many many more students are going to fail and the one last thing I want to

104say and that may be and that's a choice that some states you know some states align with Nate basic and there's reasons to do that some states align with Nate proficiency and some line up in between and there's there's arguments to be made for all of them the one thing I would draw the board's attention to and would ask the department to help us think through particularly in our March meeting is if you're going to align to Nate proficiency because that is a dramatic change U from our past practices what other consequences what other choices have we made as a board do we need to now go back and revisit so are there things in the accountability standards are there things in our graduation requirements are there other other um rules we have put in

105place that are premised on where we have been more aligned to Nate basic that we want to uh that we that this will have implications for and that we should at least know what we're doing and be ready to address those implications Mr Hansen and then miss uh then Dr Northern um just a couple of comments the term consequences is thrown out like because if we align to the nape um benchmarks that that's a bad thing I I think it's a great thing because the evidence and all the data that we've seen for the last couple of months actually even the last couple years when Mr Schneider was up here and showed us the worst in the country uh since 2019 with the most significant drop of our um uh achievement scores the consequence quences

106are dramatic if we don't do this and I think the consequences of student learning Student Success are more important than consequences of labeling or protecting systems or feelings or whatever it might be and with all due respect when we talk about uh increasing uh the height of the basketball hoop when we moved it down to 8 feet we're just trying to get it back up to 10 feet so we can actually have an opportunity to understand where we are so that we can again as a board and as a commonwealth address these challenges that our students and families and our school system are facing across the Commonwealth to help bring Improvement to help Target funding to help bring the reforms that we need to do to close the achievement Gap to stop the learning loss

107and to get our system where it needs to be so it is providing the best educational opportunities for all of our students Dr Northern I was just going to mention um Massachusetts which is a pretty Progressive State um and we saw yesterday that they were right there at Nate proficiency and um I work with Dave Driscoll who was the Massachusetts commissioner for many years who wrote a book about how they manage to do so well on nape um and he talks so convincingly about the import of setting uh their cut scores to Nate proficient um and really sees it and again it's not the Silver Bullet we don't have those in education um but it was a critical piece to the supports and the other things that we're talking about that managed to um get

108them you know where they are on nape um and he really had to fight a bunch of political battles because the pressures were very very um deep on not doing it um and they had to hold firm um and I would just um submit that holding firm actually did um produce very uh big benefits for the students of Massachusetts Miss mcferson um I think we all are in agreement as it relates to changing the cut scores to come into the uh compliance with Nate as far as proficiency is concerned and to to reach for that high height but I don't think that we in any way need to overlook the fact that we had chronic absenteeism some school systems are not supported as much as others um we've got an issue with a teacher shortage

109we've got issues with special programs for the special education students so I'm concerned that I want to make sure that we do have internal another group as part as the staff which I know they are but that we continue to get reports about The advances that we're making to correct some of these other problems so that the board will be able to analyze both the what the change in the cut scores is doing as it relates to the other underlying issues because I'm particularly concerned about my region and all regions but my region I'm responsible for the demographics and how these other issues will impact the ability of those those students to be able to perform once we change Dr Coons Miss mcferson I agree 100% so I I want to just call out the

110attendance component we've been recognized nationally for the great work that our school divisions are using I actually want to call out one of your school divisions you heard Dr Armstrong talk about our models of attendance and our attendance workshops one of our models is in Newport News they are doing some really great work around youth mental health first aid and they've been sharing through those attendance workshops what's wor working in Newport News and how they're spreading that practice I think that's incredibly important one of the challenges we have in realtime data so if I go look at my colleague in Rhode Island she has a daily tracker on attendance and she has a data system that allows her to track that daily we get data submitted to us from school divisions in individual spreadsheets and

111then the data team has to clean that it takes about two months from the submission of data to us getting actually clean data but we will be committed to providing you updates on all of those things as quickly as my team is able but those are incredible aspects that we are we are tracking closely and Dr Myers who you heard from earlier presented in the fall with AEI about our data around attendance and the incredible work that is happening in Virginia so I'm really proud in particular about attendance but you mentioned some other things that I'm more than happy to work with you offline to make sure that we're reporting on appreciate that very much just want to keep us updated on how that impacts as we move forward with that test Madam president yes

112Miss Holton I I thank you all for those comments and I completely agree that what we need to focus on is what's going to actually help students do better in the classrooms and and I think Massachusetts is an excellent example and did make a choice to realign to Nate proficiency and made choices to align other uh systems in Massachusetts accordingly and in particular in invested significant financial resources in their most underperforming schools and you know setting High bars is great but unless we're going to help our our struggling schools in unless we're going to give them money which is what it takes to incentive incentivize the best teachers to be our in teaching our niia students and giving and providing for things like extended school year and extended school day which takes extra resources uh

113and extra tutoring you know there are some things that are lower uh cost the U the uh high quality curriculum makes a difference and we've we've we're along we're moving along on that path particularly in literacy um but unless we're making the ma Massachusetts did exactly what we would need to do in Virginia if we make this change and that is figure out how to align everything else including resources and we the general assembly has in its wisdom um uh pushed uh on resources and in particular this year's budget does push including extra money for special ed kids I hope the governor signs uh agrees to that budget uh it's still not where it needs to be as we've seen in Prior presentations Virginia's neediest divisions do not get the 20 to 30% bump above

114the the uh uh the the Statewide average that they would need to produce the kind of results and that states like Massachusetts have invested so uh money is part of it but also we need to think about are there other adjustments to our for instance our accountability system decisions that we made last year we premised on the cut scores be you know where they were before if we bump up 30 or 40% I I guarantee you we're going to have 50% maybe 70% of our schools are going to be labeled off track or needs intensive support and then it's not a useful uh tool to identify the needy EST schools to intervene in if everybody is a failure where do we where do we put our extra resources so um that's just one example of

115many where if we make this dramatic shift and there may well be it's a Communications tool essentially that's what we heard yesterday and it may be a useful Communications tool to get the Public's attention uh and it and if we choose to make that decision then using it as a Communications tool but then making the other system adjustments to make it actually work uh it's not a useful Communications tool to declare EV every school in this state of failure then you don't know where to intervene I I I look forward to seeing some data from you that shows that every school in the state is going to fail under the new system if you take the if you take last year's so scores and move them up 40 if you move the cut scores up

11640% AB 40 40 percentage points absolutely and the and the department could give us that in fact that may be something we should ask them to do when we come back in March if you were to use uh npe if you were to align last year's data to nape cut scores what would that do Under the accountability system I guarantee it would move not 100% but it would move way way way higher way over 50% for sure well we can come back with some nonarbitrary numbers and work towards that yeah can we ask the department to do that next month that would be very helpful um discussion of current issues I'm sorry can I have a response to that question that would be the Department's responsibility for responding to that question that's a part of

117we direct the dep Department to come back with that data in in March if they are prepared to do that I don't know that they are because the the data that we've received before took several months to do so I cannot promise it in March this would just be moving the cut scores it's not redoing the data Dr Coons the board had hired two Consultants to do that work through the accountability process those Consultants are no longer on the same contract support so I would have to go back and check and see if we have the capacity to even be able to do anything like that so I can't respond today Dr Northern I was just going to say that um part of this really is about the misinformation and we've talked about this before

118um the communication is that you're not as a parent you're not receiving reliable information about how your child is doing and I really do think as a parent if you're told you know your kids's doing fine on the so and you've got an A in the class um that you are kind of proceeding blindly that your child is going to just be fine and so I don't see um the communication issue as a as a bad thing I think we're seeing all across the country unfortunately that parents um do think their kids are doing fine because of the information that they're receiving so unfortunately um we do need to give them better information even if it's bad news and I absolutely agree that we need to get the support system right that we need to

119have the money to support the schools all that is right but you know we're doing the best we can to fix all these pieces of the puzzle because the ship you know we didn't see yesterday the the the the slide that we probably needed to see which was the lack of growth in Virginia from 2019 to the most recent nape Administration but that to me tells tells the story about what the dire situation that we're in just in terms of these most recent years um and how much we've we've you know failed the kids unfortunately so um all of that to say that um I am just um I I have no no doubt that we're going to see more schools not doing well um that that's that's true and it's incumbent upon this board

120to get all these other pieces of the puzzle together and we are trying so hard I mean what I see month after month after month of this board and and the hard work that everybody's putting into this it's just been a really honest attempt and I'd rather us try our darnest to get all these pieces in place for kids and maybe we don't get every piece right you know because it's we're not going to get it all right but I feel like we've got a good faith effort in trying to get it all pulled together and try to do the right thing um I feel like we're all well-intentioned folks and often on the board and when the folks see this online it it just seems like you know you know it's like this but

121I'll just say that I think we're all well-intentioned and we're all trying to do the right thing and um I just also want to get parents um a better idea of how their child's really doing so they can take action on behalf of their child as well okay Madam president can I just very briefly say I absolutely concur with Dr nor that we all are looking to do what we think's right by children no doubt I have not questioned anybody's motives thank you okay we're moving on to the discussion of current issues um you had something you okay um go ahead do you have a discussion of current issues or was that your discussion of current issues please proceed Miss Holton thank you one is I did mention to Dr Coons that we I think

122the board would really benefit from a legislative update we've traditionally had a a tool where we could get updated on legislation pending during the legislature and that we didn't get this season but if we could get a legislative update at the Mark meeting I think that would be very helpful um uh and the second thing is there was one item in the public comment about driver's ed and I this is just something I'd like to put on the table for a longer conversation One Way We are failing our students in terms of getting the skills that they need to be successful in life across all kinds of post-secondary options is we do not provide free we do not consistently require our divisions to provide free driver's ed including behind the wheel and what a crucial

123skill set for getting all kinds of jobs and we have a lot of kids who are neediest kids who are not succeeding in life in all kinds of ways and would be greatly benefited from getting a uh a uh free not having to pay for the behindth wheel portion of driver's ed that their families can't pay for and so I can I just ask that we I don't have any idea whether the board has any authority to move that isue along um I know there was some legislation you know encouraging Etc but can I ask that we take a look to see if there's anything we can do to incentivize Andor mandate our divisions to address driver said I don't need an immediate response but I'd just like to put that on the table when

124I think about the skill sets we're giving our kids when they graduate basic economics and personal finance which we are leaders on in Virginia is one but driving it would be a close second is that all anybody else have items to discuss in discussion of current items or issues okay um you want to go first I just I you go ahead okay um I guess as we end today I just want to acknowledge the recent sudden departure of Dr Meg Bryce and extend my sincere gratitude to her and her service on our board her dedication to students and Learners throughout the Commonwealth has been as we all know the driving force behind her years of service to the Commonwealth of Virginia and to its education system colleagues and students have benefited from her intelligence her

125perspective and her integrity and she served the board and the Commonwealth with the true eye for what's best for Children and Families I regret that politics got in the way of the service of a highly qualified board member and a dedicated public servant it's a shame that some cannot separate the qualifications and achievements of Dr Bryce herself from partisan harmful games this board and Educators across the state work tirelessly to see and treat our students as individuals free from assumptions and associations that would suppress their potential and dim their light we work because we know that our students deserve a seat at the table no matter where they come from I'm sure my fellow board members will join me in commending Dr Bryce for her dedication to these ideals and to students across Virginia she

126has been a fighter for families and will continue to fight with for what's right and we regret that her time with us has been unfairly cut short but extend profound gratitude to her for her service and her time that she spent with us so Dr Bryce your your mark on this board and the Commonwealth has been made and we thank you um and I think Dr Coons do you have some comments yeah I just want to um you've seen the team walk around manage the technology move the tables work through this our security staff who is here to support us I just want to commend the staff that puts these meetings together every month that works hard to make sure that you have the receipts that you have the lodging that you have the food

127that you have all the support there but I also want to commend the staff that works behind the scenes you heard Michelle Wallace talk about the Educators that worked on the instructional textbook material process there are tons of people on our instructional team that have worked to produce instructional guides resources support textbook adoption processes are in the field every day you heard Dr Armstrong talk about the attendance Workshops the things that the um Behavioral Health and Wellness team are doing you heard Dr Armstrong or Dr um Myers come up and talk about the data work there are tons of people in the agency and I just want to take a moment to thank the 532 employees that are working very hard to support the work of the children of the Commonwealth to support the work

128of the board and continue to support our Educators so I just wanted to take a moment to thank our teams that are behind the scenes every day at the agency Madam president miss mcir I'd also like to thank the members of the public that show up to give their feedback on various issues I want them to know that while we take comments during the public comment period we're not in a position to respond to each of the comments during that time period because that's not the protocol but it's not to say that what you bring to us is not important we would encourage you to continue to come so that we can keep our eyes and our ears open on the issues that the community believe faces them and impacts them on the individual as

129well as on a community level and I want you to be assured that the board is doing everything we can to look at those issues we are asking our staff to revisit them we're asking the Attorney General's office to weigh in as necessary and we continue to get uh updated reports so I again I just want to thank the members of the public because we do in fact serve you thank you if there's nothing else um then I will entertain a motion to adjourn moved is there a second all those in favor of adjourning and we are adjourned