June 10 School Board Meeting - Part 2 - Buckingham County Public Schools

001We are returning from closed session 3.01 and we need um someone to bring us out of closed session. >> I certified we certify that to the best of our knowledge only public business matters and awfully exempted [clears throat] from open meeting requirements and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion to go into executive session were heard, discussed, or considered in executive session. >> Second. >> A motion was made by Mrs. Morris and seconded by Mr. Snotty to return from closed session. Roll call vote. >> Aye. >> We are back in session. That leads us to 3.02 certificate of action taken in closed session. >> You got Joey. Madam Chair, I I move that we adopt the uh personnel agenda as amended. >> Second. >> A motion was made by Mrs. Morris

002and seconded by Mr. Goodman to accept the personnel agenda as amended. Any questions on the motion? All those in favor, please raise your hand. And I'm sorry, I was supposed to read a statement state stating that I will not um vote on that because of conflict. So, it was uh oh and Mr. Christian, did you vote on that? You were yes. So, that's five to zero. All right, next thing. Let's open the meeting and uh stand for the prayer and pledge of allegiance, please. >> Lord, I just right now ask for your wisdom upon this uh meeting, Lord, that you will you will bless us, bring us together in unity as we do what's best for the community for Buckingham County, Lord, most of all for these precious children that we have, Lord. I pray

003your blessing upon them, Lord, as they go through this summer, Lord. I pray they they learn, they grow, and they get a time to relax. Bless our teachers as well. They will rejuvenate and be ready for next year, Lord. Asking all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. >> Amen. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> I do want to recognize Mr. Paul Garrett here from the Board of Supervisors. Thank you for coming. >> Thank you. >> All right. 3.04 adoption of the agenda. >> Madam Chair, I move to adopt the agenda as presented. >> Second. >> A motion was made by Mrs. Morris and seconded by Mr. Goodman to

004adopt the agenda as presented. Are there any questions on the motion? All those in favor, please raise your hand. Mr. Christian Yeah, got you. I see you. That's uh six to nothing. All [cough] right. That leads us to 4.01 public comment. Do we have anyone signed up? >> signed up. >> No one. >> Okay. So, public comment is closed. That leads us to 5.01 approval of the consent agenda. >> Madam Chair, I move to approve the consent agenda items. >> Second. >> A motion was made by Mr. Schnaidt and seconded by Mr. Christian to approve the consent agenda items as presented. Are there any questions? All those in favor, please raise your hand. And I can see Mr. Christian, in case you need to know, Wendy. >> [laughter] >> All right. All right. 6.01 recommend

005approval of the Conexus Vision Services MOU 2026 through to 2028 by Ms. Melissa Haines. >> Hi, good evening. I wanted to share we have the Conexus MOU. You guys approved this last year and this was our first year implementing this. They came in and they screened our kindergarten, third, seventh, and 10th grade students unless a parent opted them out of it. And they also screened students who teachers or staff members felt like, "Hey, I have a concern about this kid. You could send them and have them screened as well." Um and of those screenings at the primary school, they did additional 38 exams for students who did not pass the screener. Um and of those 22 received glasses. Some of the 38 passed the exam when they came back. You know, might have been an

006issue with the first screener and they passed when they came back or they had a further issue that needed to be handled by a actual optometrist or ophthalmologist. At the elementary school, we had 43 exams beyond the screener and 30 of those students received glasses. At the middle school, 60 exams and 39 of them received glasses. And at the high school, we had 68 exams with 55 of them receiving glasses. And this was at no cost to our students or to our school system. Um and so I'm just asking that you guys would approve of us continuing our partnership with Conexus. >> And this is through 2 years then, right? Yeah, two school >> Yes. >> Okay. >> I move to recommend approval of the Conexus Conexus Vision Services MOU 2026 through 2027 and 2027

007through 2028. >> Second. >> A motion was made by Mr. Schnaidt and seconded by Mr. Goodman to approve the Conexus Vision Services MOU 2026 through 2028 as presented. Are there any questions? All those in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous. Motion carries. 6.02 Graduation 2026 and 2027, Melissa Haines. >> Mhm. So, >> immediately following the graduation this year, we sent out a survey to parents, guardians, family members, community members, staff, students, everyone could respond. And so, I'm sharing the results of that here with you. We had a total of 185 responses. Um you can see the breakdown on the first slide. Um we had 74 parent or guardians, 62 staff members, 37 family members or guest, seven community members, and five students or graduates. And then from there, we asked them, "How would you

008rate the experience?" Um with one being very poor and five was excellent. So, we had 133 of the responses were excellent. Um we only had five responses that were poor as as for the experience. Um 72% had it as excellent. Um it was an average rating of 4.49 out of five. So, overall, it was excellent or good. And so then we asked them to rate different experiences with the graduation. Um and they frequently praised the overall venue and atmosphere, the visibility and the sound quality, um the comfortable seating and the environment, the organization of the ceremony itself, and the live stream, and and how nice that was for families. Not that we haven't offered that in the past, but just, you know, continue to enhance that. Um and they several of them noted that they

009appreciated not having ticket limits and that they could invite their entire families and have in the space for that. Um and so then the next question we asked was if they would support holding our future graduation ceremonies at the Liberty University Vines Center. Um right at 80% said yes, um 12% said no, and 8% were just unsure for that. So, overwhelmingly positive and and support. Um on the next slide, you can see there were some concerns that they they to share from the ceremony. Um they talked about parking and traffic flow were pretty much the most common concerns that, you know, anyone mentioned. And I will say they were like, "Everything was great except like we would just wish that there was something different there." Um some of them requested um better accommodations for handicap

010guests, additional staff or security directing the parking. Um and then procedures for exiting, just having a clearer process for that. And some of those things are in our control that we can, you know, this is our first time there that we can make a change. Um a few did mention having the ceremony on a Friday or Saturday um or later in the day on the last day for students. Some of those um suggestions. Um a few did respond that they didn't like the distance to Lynchburg um and that transportation access for families might be a barrier. Um and then there was a comment or two about it being affiliated with a religious institution. But the overall feedback themes um were very It was very highly positive. Um and they expressed appreciation specifically for the staff

011at the high school for all that they did to to make the night a success. Um and some of them some of the quotes from it were, "It was beautiful, well-organized, professional, a great experience for graduates and families." So that was the overall consensus from our community and our um staff about the ceremony itself. Do you have any questions about feedback from the survey? >> I thought it was great. I had a question. >> I did too. Yeah, I did too. >> I thought it was wonderful. >> So Longwood University reached out to the high school shortly after the ceremony and asked to meet with with us. And so there was a meeting that was held um recently. I think it was Monday um regarding um logistics and and if that if we would entertain

012Longwood. And the package that Longwood can provide us is not equal even close to what Liberty um has for us in terms of um cost seating, parking, um live streaming technology pieces. And so, um we'd like to recommend that we go with long Excuse me, Liberty again next year um on Thursday, May 20th at 6:00 p.m., which is the last day of school for students. Friday is not a um a school day. And so, that would that would be helpful to the staff that way. Um we're also recommending that it be continue to be an early release day for middle and primary and elementary students and a teacher work day for high school. We feel feel like that was that worked out nicely for the high school staff this past year. So, that's that's what

013we'd like to That's what we'd like to propose. We've got the date penciled in. Liberty does have the availability. I do believe that if we were to move it to a weekend, the we would not receive the cost um discount that we received by having it during during a during the work week. Um as for the parking and some of the handicap accessibility concerns, one of the things that we talked about this past week at our admin retreat was the expectation that all administrators, and that would mean assistant principals, principals, and directors will work graduation to help support um Mr. Heslep and Mr. Moore um with the logistics of things that need to happen in terms of security and parking and and helping um our handicapped guests access the elevator and just all those pieces.

014We're We will have additional staff present to assist with letting off um individuals, you know, finding um opportunities for parking and things of that nature. We're also going to have some support inside the garage to help there as well. So, we're going to be an all hands on deck with additional staff available to help support this this special event. >> I would suggest maybe like a little flyer that you can put on the social media to help with that as well. >> Yes. And so, I think we did I think it was an absolutely wonderful event. We had a lot of positive things that we did exceptionally well. I think us having open gate there, bringing our own security team was certainly supplemental to what Liberty provided, and we're going to continue to do that.

015Um but I do agree with you that just, you know, a few more little details that we've learned by having gone through it once will make it even better for next year. >> I agree. >> Well, thank you, ma'am. Appreciate it. What we do need an >> I have to make a calendar change. >> All we have is action information. >> Okay. >> [laughter] >> Well, we can bring it next next week. >> It's an action item. You can make an action if you'd like. >> So, the date's already open at Liberty. We've already verified >> So, we've verified I I spoke with Mr. Talley before the meeting. We verified that we were already penciled in as a holding spot pending this meeting tonight, and so it is our I'm bringing forth as Thursday, May

01620th at 6:00 p.m. for graduation to be added to the calendar uh for Liberty University. So, everyone and everyone will know that it's going to be Thursday, May 20th. It will also be a teacher work day for high school staff only, and it'll be an early release day for middle and elementary and primary and preschool students. >> I assume with the schedule being vamped for next year, it's already plugged into the schedule and everything accordingly. Okay. Uh any questions? I'll go ahead and make the motion if you want. Madam Chair, I move we accept the proposal for the graduation for the 2027 class as presented. >> Second. >> A motion was made by Mr. Schnautz and seconded by >> [cough] >> Mr. Goodman to um accept the recommendation for May 20th for the graduation at

017Liberty and the different uh days off and that type of thing. Um all those in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous. Thank you. >> Maybe if we don't have to sit on stage we can get some concessions next time. >> [laughter] >> All right. 6.03 uh transportation update by Mr. Ronnie Palmer. >> Good evening everyone. Uh I just want to update you. Usually this month every year we are going ahead and getting a new fuel bid approved. But um the price of fuel right now, Dr. Reasoner and the different ones have been talking. Fuel companies now is not the time to bid the fuel. Fuel is way too high. We really lucked up this year. This whole year we got unleaded gas for $1.98 a gallon. Diesel fuel for $2.20 a gallon. Diesel fuel

018at some of these stores around here was almost $6 a gallon. But we have the way the plan that we've been talking about is we're going to probably before June 30th, we still have a little bit of uh usage left on the diesel fuel. So, I'm going to get the diesel tanks filled up before June 30th. That should last us right on through the 1st of August. We have used all the unleaded fuel. So, any fuel between now and the time we bid it, we're going to have to bid each load on that fuel cuz we've used all It's 60,000 gallons of unleaded we use each year. Went a little bit more than that this year in 120 120,000 gallons of diesel. If you look at it, every dollar that gas or diesel has gone

019up, every it's going to cost 120,000 more dollars. >> Yeah. >> Every dollar it goes up for diesel and 60,000 dollars every gallon of regular unleaded you buy. So, that's that's going to be the plan. We're going to try to just go ahead and fill the tanks up before June 30th. And when I say fill the tanks up, that's the diesel tank. And I'm not going to get in unleaded gas cuz the day we had practice for the graduates is the day the Region 8 Region 8 usually bids us together. The more gallons you get, the cheaper price you can get for all the other schools in the region. Well, I I was actually drove the bus that day up there, too. And I missed the Region 8 meeting. So, when I got back, I

020told them they said, "Oh God." They had somebody there from Southern States and they said, "Wait about 2 months before you bid cuz your fuel is going to go down." And we see in these stores right here it's dropped right sharp here lately. So, I've been talking to different ones. One of them is Foster Fuels I've been talking to and he said give it about 6 more weeks. He said it's going to drop drastically. Hope he's right. But the plan is just let this thing go down before we bid it cuz on the flip side of that, you get a high price now [clears throat] and the bottom falls out, we home. >> Yeah. >> But one good thing about it, we've talked to the county and the sheriff's department and everybody because it come

021back to bite us the last time it was this high. They were going down the road here and getting it for $1.20 a gallon. We had locked it in for like $3 that year. So, we had to pay We had to pay extra money for fuel we didn't use cuz we had bid it, you know, we had said we'll take that many gallons for that high price. So, anyway, whatever the price that we end up bidding the fuel either July or August or whatever we bid it, they on board to pay that price whatever happens. I can't predict the gas prices, but I do I do know now is not the time to bid. Not bid it, I'm sorry. You got to bid it, you got to get them on that road, but that's going

022to be our plan. I just want you to know it might be, like I said, July August we're coming in, we might have a fuel bid, but we want the price to level out and be a whole lot better than what it is today. So. >> Um any any questions? >> Yes. Mr. Palmer, question for you. Since you're there talking about fuel and we got you. Um and Mr. Garrett's here with the Board of Supervisors. Um how many routes do we run? >> 36 routes. So, 36 buses on the road running routes. >> Yes. >> How many of those are without AC? >> Thir- The The what best way for me to answer that, 13 of them do have AC. >> 13 have AC. >> Now >> after tonight the two buses for this year

023will be approved. So, we have to add two more to that. Okay? So, that'll be up to 15. And then the two >> Six basically. We got two in the shoot, right? >> Two in the sh- Yeah, two. I already I already I go ahead and tell them ahead of time to go ahead and Buck Kinnaird usually figures on getting two buses a year. So, I I put my name in ahead earlier because you want to buy them as early as you can. Because you don't want something to happen. Change or something like that and the price shoot up on you, you know. But yeah, it's so it's 15 that have air conditioning after we get these two that we get approved. Well, one of them has already been approved, but the other one tonight

024it'll be 15. >> So, Monday night we were so you know, thankful that the Board of Supervisors um approved the appropriation of money, I think it's $56,000 to retrofit four additional buses with AC out of FY27. >> 72 >> Mhm? >> 72 >> Okay, sorry. So, um for four additional buses and and so we could do two buses in addition to the four, so that would bring six um at 15,000 each for a total of 30,000 that would come out of FY27. So, we would therefore have six additional buses with AC um in addition to the two buses that we purchased this spring, so that would be eight. We We would have done eight fairly recently. >> So, we're looking at 13 right now plus the six four from the from four from the county,

025two from our from this budget puts us at 19. Plus the two purchased going after the fiscal puts us at 21 buses out of 36. That's a raise from eight additional buses that will have AC on them for these routes and I assume >> time last year, yes. >> Yeah, and so what we're looking at is going into the next school year and correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like we're going into the next school year if we get these next buses early >> Mhm. >> we can go into the next school year with buses with AC out of the out of the 36 routes we got. >> It would It would be 21. Yeah, that's the that scenario, yes, it would be 21. >> Okay, so I guess the push for us

026is to go ahead and make sure we get the buses all locked down. >> Right, and so like I said it's um for us based on the make of the buses, you know, there's there's difference cuz we have different types of buses and Mr. Palmer can explain the difference between International and Blue Bird and yeah, and the two vendors, but for us it would be $30,000, two buses. >> Yeah. Got it. >> That's right. >> Um >> How many more buses would you recommend adding AC to them? >> I don't think it'd be even like eight more buses because you just you get school bus gets to a certain age and time it's no really wasting your time you waste your money when they don't have it. >> Right. >> So we got 36 routes.

027How many do we usually have as backup buses when cuz they go down? >> Uh I think we got like 14 spare buses. >> Spare bus okay. >> Yeah. >> And those are the ones we use sparingly. >> You would never put no AC on those these spare buses. >> So we got 50 buses total. >> Got it. >> That's right. >> And the athletic buses don't have do they have air? >> Yes they do. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> That's all the questions I have. Thank you cuz with the big the conversation we've been having up here has been about ACs obviously and we talked about it at the Board of Supervisors meeting and I'd like to say publicly we certainly appreciate Mr. Garrett. Thank you. We certainly appreciate it. Pass it on. We've

028already talked to Mr. Chambers Chairman Chambers with the Board of Supervisors but we sincerely appreciate the help with the ACs on the buses sincerely. It's been a big conversation with us up here so. >> Absolutely. >> Well thank you sir. We appreciate that. >> Thank you Mr. Garrett very much. >> I'll pass it on to the rest of them. >> Thank you. We appreciate it. Um 6.04 recommend adopting the 2026-2027 BPSSA grant reimbursement resolution by Mr. Patrick Moore. >> Good evening. So it's that time of year again just to get the BPSSA reimbursement resolution voted on. This is essentially saying if we use the grant funds that we will put in for the reimbursement to get the money back. Um nothing has changed it's the same amount same everything it's just essentially just asking for

029your approval again for next year. >> And how much is that? I'm sorry. >> It's a total of 184,000. So it's the grants 154, but then there's a $30,800 local match. So, the reimbursement will be for 154. >> Okay. All right. >> Madam Chair, I recommend adoption of the 2026-2027 BPSA grant reimbursement resolution. >> I second. >> Motion is made by Mr. Snoddy and seconded by Mr. Goodman to approve or adopt the 2026-2027 BPSA grant reimbursement resolution as presented. Are there any questions other than what we've already asked? All those in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous. Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Moore. >> Thank you. >> 6.05 recommend approval of the 2026-2027 adult meal prices by Mr. J.B. Hessel. >> Good afternoon, board. Thank [clears throat] you for allowing me to be here

030and speak to you guys. Uh again, um we are a community eligibility provision school uh district I'm I mean. Um and that allows us to provide student meals at no cost, breakfast and lunch. Um every year, keeping with those regulations, uh Virginia Department of Education sends us sends us a um tool kit to put in our numbers to make sure that our adult meal prices are where they should be. Um if you look to the bottom of the page, that formula is there for you. Our current price is $4.90 for an adult lunch. Uh we're asking for a dime or 10 cent raise on that for a $5 lunch. Uh adult breakfast is currently priced at $2.95 and we are excuse me, $2.85 and we are asking for it to be raised by a dime

031to $2.95. That keeps us in line with our our community our CEP provision and allows us to continue to do what we're doing now. >> Sure. Go ahead. >> Just uh one question. >> Sure. >> I know you probably don't have it right in front of you, but I mean, do you sell a lot of those meals? Cuz I mean, to me it seems like it's >> great question. Great question. Right now, we average uh around 370 adult meals per uh per month. And so, if you add that in at 10% at 10 cent, it usually it's $37 if I'm doing the math right in front of you here. Um so, it is a portion of what we do, but just a very small portion. >> So, if say for instance, if I worked there

032and I said, "Man, I can't afford it." What would you advise me to do? Just to bring my own lunch? Or is there any >> Well, we allow two charges. It's $10 for a charge. Then after that, you you're not allowed to charge. So, uh yes, if you have trouble with that, then you probably need to bring your own meal. We will try to work with you, but then again, we're federal. So, we have to be very, very careful with every dollar and everything that comes into our kitchens. We're accounted. We account for. We keep on our inventory. So, we have very strict rules and regulations to make sure that we can continue to do CEP. That's very important for our county. I can't stress that enough because if we didn't um have that for

033our county, I'm not sure everybody would eat. So, uh right now, everybody gets free breakfast and lunch, and it's very important for us to keep that status if it is the will of the board. >> Thank you. >> Yes, sir. >> What's the pleasure of the board? >> I'm chair, recommend approval of the 2026-2027 adult meal prices. >> I'll second. >> Motion's made by Mr. Snider and second by Mr. Christian to approve the 2026-27 adult meal prices as presented. Are there any other questions? All those in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous. The motion carries. Thank you. Oh, you didn't? I'm sorry. Um all those opposed? Okay, sorry. It wasn't unanimous. I'm sorry. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. Oh, next one. Uh 6.06 recommend approval of the 2026-27 security equipment grant. >> Awesome. Thank

034you again for allowing me to be a part of two great committees, the facilities committee and the safety committee. Um that Those committees run all year. We talk about capital improvement, things that are needed through the county, our security needs as well. So, every year we um we apply for the SIG grant, security equipment grant. This last year, if we remember, we have uh 40,000 that we were granted for the primary school cameras. And luckily enough, we have a great IT department. They're already We've already got those cameras in and he's working on install. Um and we're going to complete that shortly. So, this year, using those two committees as the crutch of this um uh ask here is um we want to update our card swipe system at the high school. It It's been

035on the list a long time. We're still using an old infrastructure there with Honeywell. So, that's on the list. New vape detector vape detectors at the high school. We have one set, we'd like another. Um updating our aging cameras at the middle school. Uh a new vape detection system here. We have one, we need another. Door swipes at the elementary school. We have one on the loading dock. This would be out the cafeteria door near the near the uh new podium that they have. Or podium's not the right word. Uh we'll say gazebo. Um and then we would like to also purchase bollards if we can or at least apply for that. At every school would get some. That has been an issue for us. And these bollards are not only um heavy duty and

036would do what they're um designed to do, but also be decorative as well. With that in mind, I'd like to uh apply for $158,500 for this grant. That is a 75/25 match, and in doing so, we would be responsible for $39,625 if we got 100% of the grant. Um normally, we haven't gotten 100% of the grant, but always need to make sure the math matches because if we do, we have to make sure that we have enough to cover. >> Okay. I do have one question. Um the metal detectors, what You probably have those on a schedule as to when you replace them. They're not due, I guess, anytime >> No, ma'am. They're they're very robust, and right now we have one at every level. Um and the security, I think our security team is

037looking into when we need to put those back on the rotation. But right now, they're doing well. And we've had no issues [laughter] with them. And we're They're portable. We take them with us where we go places. >> Right. Thank you. Pleasure of the board. >> I have one question. >> Sure. Go ahead and ask. >> Just one question. >> Sure. >> How many vape detectors do we have, did you say? >> We currently have one at the middle school and one at the high school, and we would like to double our output one in one of each. >> Okay. So, we're doubling. I guess I'm to assume that that's because we've gotten a lot of hits on the vapor vape detectors or >> Well, yes. Short answer, yes. And as we know, vaping with

038their young people is an epidemic, and if we can keep that out of schools, that would be awesome, and the more detection we have, the better we can do that. So. >> So, that from what you can see, that's been a huge deterrent to kids coming in trying to come in schools with the vape or doing it or >> smart, so they figure out how to work around, but you know, as best we can, we'll 100% double our efforts by putting one at the high school and one at the middle school. So, we'll have more tools in the tool bag to deter that. That's what we're after. >> All right. Thank you. >> Where are they set up at? >> We have them uh in the eighth grade hallway here, and we also have them

039in the main hallway at the uh uh as you walk up the ramp. >> So, it's kind of like where the metal detectors are in a way, too? I mean >> Tell me that [snorts] one more time. I'm sorry. >> Are they kind of in the same place as the metal detectors or not? >> No, ma'am. They're not. No, ma'am. That's a completely separate issue. So, we're actually looking for the usage of them. So, it's not really finding them. It's the It's the use of them. So. >> Okay. Okay. >> And normally, you know, we some of the intricate parts of how we operate, we keep that kind of close to our vest. So, we try to stay one step ahead if we can. >> I understand. Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Any other

040questions? What's the pleasure of the board? >> I motion to recommend approval of the 2026-2027 security equipment grant. >> Second. >> Motion was made by Mr. Schnieder and seconded by Mr. Jameson to approve the 2026-2027 security equipment grant as presented. Are there any other questions? All those in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous. >> Thank you. >> The motion carries. Thank you. 6.07, the monthly enrollment report. >> So, our projected ADM year-to-date is 1645. For the month of May, our enrollment for the preschool is 92 students. Our enrollment for the primary school is 349 students. Our enrollment for the elementary school is 353 students. Our enrollment for the middle school is 385 students. And finally, our enrollment for the high school is 576 students. >> And 10 of those are grant uh funded a

041different way, right? I mean You You >> They're not counted in the 1645, but we receive funding for for them separately. Yes. And we have built our budget off 1650 for next year. So, we are very mindful of that that we're under slightly and we are um That's the reason why we're holding some vacancies at this moment in time. >> Thank you for that report. 6.08 instructional update by Dr. Ringstaff. >> [cough] >> Good evening, board. My presentation tonight includes the following items. I do a a one-page overview of our SOL results from this year. The next few slides, and I don't want you to advance, I'm going to go over how our schools are essentially accredited, but with the current system of the performance framework, it differs by elementary, middle, and high school. I've

042got an overview of what our teachers have said when we surveyed them as far as their professional development needs. I've got them ranked 1 through 6 or 1 through 7. And then I close with some some actions that we're going to take to address our weaknesses in particular areas of of the SOL scores. I want to start with positive, though, and I want to call out at each school some of our high watermarks for SOL performance. At the high school, I want to praise our Algebra 1 and our biology. Both of those set the trend. Uh Algebra 1 was over 83% and biology was over 79%. At the elementary school, grade three math and grade four math led the building. Grade three math was near 70%. Grade four math was 71.3%. At the middle school,

043>> [clears throat] >> excuse me, our Algebra 1 students uh scored 100%. All right, looking to the one-page overview summary. The areas I've tried to summarize those as strengths at the bottom, weaknesses or watch areas, and then instructional takeaways. The primary concerns at the elementary school include reading consistency in grade five reading, which was a 57.5. At the middle school, our math numbers math overall was a 48.9%. Grade seven 38.7%. Math at the middle school was definitely an area focus, and I've shared some ways that we're going to address that at the end of this presentation. At the high school, history lagged, but particularly geometry. And again, I've I've we've developed a way to address geometry, as well. Now, SOL scores, and I'm going to give you some time to to digest that, but it

044leads us into our framework. We want our schools to be successful. We want our schools essentially to be either Well, we want them to be distinguished, but at a minimum, we want them to be on track. And so, the next three slides are how we calculate that. And And so, it's not all SOLs. It's a It's a complex puzzle at each of the buildings. For instance, at the elementary school, it's particularly the SOL test. It's how our English language learners are are doing, but it's also reading growth and math growth. And it's also chronic absenteeism. At the middle school, very similar, but they factor in are we challenging our students at the middle school to take advanced coursework? And we are. Dr. Garrett and his staff are are certainly creating those options, particularly in math,

045to challenge our advanced learners. And and probably the most complex is the high school measurement for how we determine on track or distinguished or off track. And again, we have mastery, which is 50% and that makes up primarily from SOL tests, but then we start to look at not only chronic absenteeism, we look at ready for life framework, and also the federal graduation indicator, which is essentially your on-time graduate. So, a high school student is expected, once they start ninth grade, they're expected to graduate in four years. Now, there's certain situations where students can get extra time, especially students with disabilities, to graduate or receive an applied studies diploma, and that's where in the readiness category, that six-year extended graduation rate with applied studies factors in. They're not letting anybody slip through the cracks. We

046want to make sure everybody has has graduated or everybody has something if you're on that six-year plan. So, over this part of part of my responsibility over the summer is to is to advise the superintendent and do preliminary calculations for these performance frameworks. And to estimate where we're going to be come October when the state releases their their findings of every high school of every school across the Commonwealth. My preliminary calculations have us at all schools on track. We're slightly above the preliminary calculations that Ms. Jansen did last year. I used her last year calculations as a model for this year, and we come in slightly above. Now, the reason I say preliminary and I don't want to box myself into giving you a number is because it's a very tedious calculation, particularly when you

047factor in kids who are transfer students, uh retakes of tests. Now, I've went through and tried to count every single one of those down to the minutia. But, again, I want to leave myself some wiggle room. And and just as a for instance, when the calculation was done last year, the high school was calculated to be approximately 81% and they came in at 90 after the state did it. So, I've I've when I did the calculations, I was aggressive and I erred on the side of the most conservative calculation. So, again, I have I project us as being on track in all three schools. All right. I'm going to skip the part where we say uh what the teachers have said until the end. We're going to end with that. I want to share because

048we're coming off the heels of me talking about SOL performance and and how our schools are doing. I want you to know the things that we have in store or planned and this is with the input of the superintendent. So, with the input of the principals and it's also from talking to staff throughout the year and and seeing where their needs are. Um praise to to Dr. Garrett. >> [clears throat] >> He when I came to him and said, "I've got a concern about math at the middle school level." And I had an idea, he had an idea, we we're going to do both. We're going to retool a particular teacher to provide math intervention to those students who have demonstrated through their SOL scores in math that they need extra time. They need almost

049like we treat Read 180 or the Dibbles, the literacy intervention, we're going to do that same model for math. And and Dr. Garrett's idea was we're also going to circle our students who need the most help in math back to their math teacher who has that relationship with the student during eighth period. So, we're going to attack that two different ways. Geometry, you know, I heard throughout the year that uh teachers, particularly in geometry, were concerned that we had a group of students who were just not prepared to handle geometry in one semester. It's a full year, but there, you know, it's it's just too much. It moves too fast. They They're not allowed to go into the depth. Now, I know that the state allows particular subjects to be taught in a part A

050and part B style. Algebra is taught part A and part B pretty much anywhere you go in the state at the high school level. It's considered a tier two intervention, and so you identify students based on some particular criteria, and they get that extra support. Well, the state allows you to do that for biology, uh earth science, world history one, and US history. And so, not every school in the the Commonwealth at, you know, takes advantage of that, but based on teacher feedback at the high school, and I really like to to listen to teacher input because they're in they're in the trenches. They're in the front lines, and they understand what needs to be taught. Uh and taking that in tandem with the state allows you to do geometry A and B, as well

051as Buckingham is on a 4 by 4 schedule, which adds another wrinkle to it. Um I thought the allowance of us identifying a group of students to do geometry A and B was in the in our students' best interest. So, we will be doing we will be returning to that model in the fall. Adoption of a math curriculum for grades 3 through 5. Now, we're just up against the wall that we we need to adopt a math curriculum. We have Kidum in K1 and 2. We have an in-house product that is shown to be successful, um but the state requires us to adopt the HQIM the high quality instructional materials. So this fall and spring we will be adopting a math curriculum for grades 3 through 5. I'd like to think that it would be

052Kid in but I don't want to box us in and I want to give our teachers an honest shot to say what's best for them. Behavior supports for pre-K through 5. This is going to be a focus as we head into the fall. The listening tours that just in my conversations with teachers and being the disciplinary hearing officer just in my observation of the discipline issues that have come up even at the primary and elementary school we have identified through BTSS some ways to address behavior. Not just in case step or ISS or OSS but in in in the way we do things in order to be equitable and consistent with families and students and and take note of what we're doing for discipline. We've got some behavior support changes coming from pre-K through 5.

053And then my last priority and I've said to you every time I've talked about the new teacher project TNTP they're the best professional development I've seen for literacy K K through 5 and and really numeracy. We're we're working with Prince Edward and region 8 for our math teachers using TNTP. They're just the best for that level. I hope to renew that CLSD grant and that will come up that ends in September September 30th. I'm working with TNTP so that there's no let up that we get the application in and it's more seamless. It doesn't drop for 2 months and then we come back to it to them. So that's a priority of mine. Now coming back to what are our teachers saying are their needs? You know our professional development is not just driven by

054what our SOL scores are and it can't be. It needs to be It needs to be based on how do we encourage good classroom management and behavior in in various areas. How do we encourage kids to come to school? How do we support teachers? It's a variety of things, but our teachers are saying that they need help in strengthening differentiation, remediation, and and enrichment. They're saying that we need to improve literacy instruction across pre-K through 12. They're asking for help to strengthen math reasoning and problem-solving ability of students. They're asking to improve data use, how to use common formative assessments, and how to increase the effectiveness of the professional learning communities. >> Would you say that what was that word that data what? >> Data use, okay. >> The fifth uh need was address student

055behavior, how to keep students engaged, and overall classroom climate. And then lastly, strengthen inclusion, co-teaching supports, and supports for our diverse learners, such as students with disabilities. So, I just want to emphasize that professional development We're having conversations like with our admin retreat. We're planning with these topics. We're planning with Amplify, with Math Space, with VTSS to make that work week when we return, and to make October 12th the professional development day that you granted us. We were building those to support what our data shows we need to support and what our teachers are asking for. So, the last thing I had was just a brief update on summer school. I want you to know that Dr. Harris is going to be updating you with data and figures next month, but we're serving 48 students

056at the middle school, 30 students from the high school, 115 students at the elementary school. There's 19 students in Knights Power Summer Camp. When I do walk-throughs, students seem engaged. It's So, this thank you for supporting summer school. It's a good service for our students and it's being utilized. >> Do you have any questions? >> about being utilized. It's about beneficial or not. >> It's >> [laughter] >> Dr. Harris will have those figures, but I am sure it's beneficial. >> Okay. >> I just wanted to mention something about the behavioral supports that Dr. Ringstaff discussed. Um, we we've we are hiring a behavioral specialist for for K5. Um, we have two counselors at the um complex that we've that we've already approved. >> [cough] >> Ms. Moon will be the counselor for the elementary school

057and Ms. Gibson will be the counselor for the primary school. Um we've got uh also we'll have a school psychologist intern who will spend 3 days at the complex, 1 day at the middle school, 1 day at the high school next year. And we're also going to have a school social worker intern next year and she will spend 2 days or she he or she will spend 2 days a week at the complex. So, we have quite a bit um additional support in in the behavioral support and mental health support for our students and I feel very positive about some of the things that we have um been able to add to our repertoire of support for our students for next year. >> I'm thankful that we're we're talking about the behavioral support for the

058students. Um some of the feedback the board has gotten has been about support for teachers. Uh when we had our discussion down at the complex, it was actually brought up that we didn't have enough support to help remove disruptive or problems in the classroom. Um and how do we deal with that? So, part of the part of the conversation, at least one part of it for me is if we're going through a new process for the behavioral piece and looking at the the the requirements, if you will, for the behavior piece of it is making sure that our policy will align with what we're directed to do. And then being able to enforce the policy that we put in place because historically, at least since I've been on the board, we haven't even enforced our

059own policy within our schools, and that's a problem with the teachers, right? Because if I can't get a student out of the classroom so I can finish teaching the other students or I have to leave the classroom or have somebody else sub in for me, I cannot teach. And that's been a big feedback piece for us. So, I'm glad you're looking at it going into the fall. I'm anxious to see how it develops. >> Uh you know, to to support those teachers primarily, like you talked about the K-5 piece and, you know, Pam's been a huge advocate of that whole behavior piece and getting us the extra help and stuff that we need. Uh so, I'm I'm thankful we're looking at it for the student piece of it, but at the end of the day,

060the teacher's the one that's feeling the blunt on the initiation of the behavioral issue, right? >> Yes. >> So, that's a huge piece for us, the board, is the teachers can do what they need to do without the the worry of extra stuff. >> We're having those conversations, and I'll say it's a blessing to have your support and your backing. I mean, and and we're all hearing it, but and I'm and and I'm initiating, Dr. Reasoner's initiating those conversations with the right individuals, but it's it's always good to have board support when they say we're we're trying to support you. They want us to support you. So, we appreciate that. >> whole piece from the time we've started reviewing policies a couple years back is we already have policies in place to help with these.

061We're just not using them. >> Mhm. >> Right? So, if we just use the policies that we already currently have in place, a lot of the problems would have been I won't say solved, but reduced at the classroom and the teacher level. >> Right. >> And that's kind of what we're looking at. I mean, >> And when you mention support for teachers, okay, another layer of this is to assist new teachers and developing teachers with classroom management and just running their classroom and getting off to a great start and our new coordinator of instructional support, Ms. Bryant, one of her um uh responsibilities is going to be a support for new teachers as terms of mentor and providing, you know, observations and and feedback to help them uh start the school year off strong. Some

062of our new teachers and like I said, developing teachers. So, that's another another yet another layer of support. While it's not necessarily tied to student behavior, it will hopefully help teachers with some of those classroom management pieces that they may be struggling with um so, they'll have another avenue there of support. >> Mr. Good. >> So, when I was looking at number four, your your point number four, with regards to So, say for instance, if someone a child, they're going from fifth grade to sixth grade or they're going from eighth grade to ninth grade, do we have a a plan in place that I don't know what it's called. Is it called vertical alignment? Is it called But basically, to where whatever they've done, say for instance, they're going from um you know, fifth grade

063to the middle school, >> [cough] >> whatever they've done prior to that, to where when they transition to the next grade or transition to another school, there's going to be something that's going to reinforce what they've already done. So, then that way they're not starting all over again from scratch. But what is what is that called? >> Those are transition meetings and I don't know how specific that you want me to be. I'm very I'm very I've done a lot of transition meetings, especially meeting as a high school principal getting kids in from the eighth grade and just learning about them and how can we best serve them. But specific to Buckingham County the what has got to my level are issues such as when a student mhm transitions from fifth grade to sixth grade

064one of the discrepancies is in math performance. And so there is even though our math SOL scores are showing strength at the third, fourth, and fifth grade level, what our math teachers are seeing in reality is some [snorts] discrepancies and it's and it's really not that they don't know the content. It's more of a vertical alignment conversation with how they're teaching it in sixth grade and the conversation with a fifth grade teacher of what can they do as fifth grade math teachers to make the students transition to sixth grade math easy. You really start to lose students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade math because you start to you start to pull certain students out and they start to accelerate and then students particularly boys in seventh grade really tend to lose interest in in

065math when they were once good math students in elementary school. I mean, studies really support this. So we're trying to look I'm For instance, what I'm going to do to address this as part of our work week, I'm going to facilitate a vertical alignment conversation between sixth grade math teachers and fifth grade math teachers to say what can we do not in a judgmental way, but what can we do in fifth grade that's going to make this transition to sixth grade more seamless? Now, that's that's a really specific issue. Another really specific issue of vertical alignment is it's it's almost like a whirlwind for parents when a student moves from fifth grade to sixth grade and you're on a different disciplinary matrix, which is guided by Virginia State Code. And it's also guided by secondary

066disciplinary matrixes that they are used. You get this whiplash effect of a student was in a fight in fifth grade and may have only received between three and five days of suspension, but they come up to the sixth grade and the standard that that a fight is or an assault is 10 days of suspension. So, that's a real whiplash. That's that's part education. That's part understanding who we're getting in sixth grade in a transition meeting and making sure that we're not that we're aware of, "Hey, we don't schedule these two students together." Or this student needs a has anxiety and needs a small group support from a counselor. It's those sorts of conversations that come out of like transition meetings when you look at the totality of a grade level. And that and we are

067planning for those for work week and I'm also planning on having conversations or facilitating conversations between say Dr. Garrett and and Mr. Tally and also um Ms. Morris and Dr. Garrett uh for that transition from fifth to sixth grade. >> Okay, so we're >> We are aware that we are working on that. >> Yes, sir. >> That's that's on your radar. Okay, thank you. >> And I would like to add um on the on the >> [clears throat] >> for the for the younger students, we're going to increase our vertical alignment and articulation um amongst pre-K transitioning into kindergarten. We I spoke with Ms. Walker about this um during our end-of-the-year meeting earlier today. And so we've got some exciting plans and some thoughts that we'd like to uh to kind of further plan out

068um some opportunities especially after January after the second half of the school year to help with some of some of that some of that transition as well. >> Our uh guidelines are at the state level, correct? >> Guidelines for suspension? >> For transition. 5th and 6th. Like we've got guidelines for 5th grade teaching, right? Guidelines that have to be taught, right? >> Yes, yes. >> And we have guidelines for 6th grade. So, if if we're looking at it from a from a transition perspective and a vertical alignment perspective, is there a gap in the state or is it a gap in what we're doing here? Or across the board. I assume we're not the only school that's having issues, right? But is there is the gap at the state level or between the what's being

069taught at the 5th grade level and the 6th grade level? >> No. I would say it's conversations about practice. How you I'm going to use a high school example cuz it's what I'm most familiar with. But you get individuals who are highly specific content specialist at at the high school level. And they think science for instance should be taught a particular way or measurement or investigation. And and while a 7th or 8th grade science teacher would hit the standards, the depth that they go into or the way that they ask questions or that the way that they measure length, weight, you know, mass and density, it's just not up to par for a content area specialist. And so, what you're seeing what I'm seeing at the 5th to 6th grade level is not that the

0705th graders are coming in unaware of the the math standards, but you get a lot of conversations about and I see this with my own children. Students do not have math sense or number sense or number fluency. For instance, you know, when we were children, I can still remember laying on the floor in the kitchen and my mom would call out multiplication tables to me, you know? [laughter] And so, you get students who matriculate into sixth grade and and they're trying to do word problems and what's what's hindering the the the word problem is not the content or the curriculum standard, it's that the student takes four times as long to understand what 7 * 9 is before they can do the word problem. It's it's it's little things I say little but they manifest

071up as you increase the rigor of the math problem. It's issues like that. >> We had that conversation earlier. >> [laughter] >> Any other questions? Thank you for the information update. >> It leads us to 6.09 energy efficiency update by Mr. J.B. Haslip. >> [clears throat] >> Thank you again for allowing me to come up and speak to you. Um as you know, we started our energy conservation measures on on October of last year and we've had pretty good success all the way up until today. Um and today is going to be a success as well. We do have uh two laps of data. I do not have primary or elementary this time. I'll put it on next report. So, going from top to bottom on the summary page, if you look at pre-K, it's

072done real well this time, almost 19% savings. Um $386 and change. Good job, pre-K. Uh middle school uh 4. 61, almost 5%. $617 savings. High school was the big winner. Almost 26% down from last year's usage, $3,123. Good job. The cottage, again, that's that really small kilowatt footprint. They're they're sus- they're suspect to temperature changes and they don't have a lot of fat on the on the bones there, so they are down a little bit and they are $30. CTE Good job, 10% savings there, $360. If you look at the bus shop, again, almost 7% savings from last year, $36 savings. School board school board office is down a little bit this month. We had a HVAC unit that was overheating and continued to run, so we've now got that and got that situation rectified,

073so we should be much more efficient there next month. And the alternative aid building, again, is one of those small kilowatt footprint buildings. So, actually, right now, if you look at our projected projected savings that we wanted to have would be 7% of uh savings of $38,267. We're well past that mark. This is the first month for that. We're at $42,343 savings thus far, and we still have some months to go for this for this uh project. So, good job to everybody involved, teachers, administrators. Everybody has really taken to it and um so far we're we're heading in the right direction. Any questions or comments? >> Comments, yes. >> Yes, sir. >> Um no, not everybody took to it. >> [laughter] >> But they adapted. Um and I would like to sincerely say I appreciate

074the effort of everybody because when we started off, I can tell you for one, we weren't sure where this was going to end up. And then looking at the final numbers, cuz I was just sitting here thinking before I got to your last page, how much did we save over the year? And it's over $40,000 saved in the last fiscal year. That's not small change. That's That's a That's a That's a salary for somebody, right? >> It's a lot of hard work by the staff and the teachers. >> it's everybody going, "Okay, we don't like it, but we're going to do it, right?" Cuz if we're going to do it, we're going to do it. But, I mean, thanks to everybody. Thanks to you for the for the reports, for driving it home and everything,

075and thanks for admin taking it on. I mean, like I said, I had no idea it was going to be this this amount. This is This is tremendous. You never would have thought that by moving coffee pots and microwaves and stuff like that, you you >> Making schedule changes. >> Right. >> There has been >> Lights, temperature changes, yeah, everything. But, $42,000, that's amazing. So, yes, thanks to everyone for the effort. >> You know, we were able to provide our staff with a 4% raise plus a step increase, and >> Yeah. >> um that's richer than many many counties around us in terms of what we were able to do, and we still have a long way to go with where we want to be in terms of compensation, but this is just one piece

076that is working towards that that ultimate goal of um being highly competitive with our salaries and benefits. >> Sometimes we forget, I think, that the budget in it in its entirety consists of the dollars and cents, right? And while it doesn't mean much to us on on a daily basis, when you look at our budget as a yearly budget of 30-plus million dollars, right? So, when you're looking at it, you know, and I can't afford to do X, Y, Z. This has freed up $40,000 worth. It's not unlike the Board of Supervisors offering $72,000 for ACs. We could have essentially taken some of that money at some point and done the same similar stuff with, right? So, it's not small beans, and that's that's my point is, you know, it took everybody coming together to

077do this to save us $40,000 at the bottom line. >> That's right. >> So, I appreciate it, everybody. >> And we're going [clears throat] to continue with unplug the plug next year and continue encouraging all of our staff to to be energy conservate conservationists. Even if the price of uh energy goes up. >> going [laughter] up. It undoubtedly will. >> Is it uh appropriate at this time to just talk about some of the upcoming summer summer projects that we have going on? >> going to ask if at the end when we cover down on our uh committee notes, we could we could talk about it because I additionally want to hear that. Yes. >> I'll come back. >> Yes, sir. Please. >> Thank you. >> Okay, uh item 6.10 recommend accepting the letter of engagement

078from Robinson Farmer Cox Associates for the fiscal year 25-26 school activity fund audit. I'm Miss Wendy Oliver. >> This evening, we're asking the board to approve the letter of engagement from Robinson Farmer Cox for the 25-26 school year activity fund audit. They are scheduled to start their audit on July 27th and are stating that they would have the report back no later than September 30th. So, we would need your approval to start this audit for next year. >> Madam Chair, I make a motion to approve. >> Second. >> Uh motion's made by Mr. Goodman and seconded by Mr. Schnaidt to uh accept the letter of engagement from Robinson Farmer Cox Associates for the uh activity fund audit as presented. All those in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous. Motion carries. 6.11 VSBA May policy

079updates, first reading. >> Okay. Um so, this evening, I'm going to share with you the first reading of the VSBA May policy updates. I'm also going to share with you updates on policy GC BDR, which covers sick leave, personal leave, and unpaid leave for employees, as well as policy DLBR, salary checks and deductions. Um both of these policies would need to be approved at the June 24th meeting as they would go into effect um when leave is posted July 1st. All the other policies that I'm going to share with you this evening, um, could be approved at the July 8th meeting. Okay, so the most recent revisions to the sample policies in the VSBA policy manual have been posted on the VSBA policy portal, policieservices.vsba.org. And each policy in this review cycle has been modified

080in some way, although many of them have either a slight change in format or changes that are administrative in nature. The revisions are provided in both final and track changes, which is referred to as a redline or RL formats. The RL format shows each change made to the policies. The policy update will remain on the website for approximately 1 year. The policies have been incorporated into the VSBA policy manual, which is available on the website. Generally, substantial revisions are a result of changes in law and regulations. However, some policies are revised for editorial reasons, to correct technical errors, to improve clarity, or to distinguish policy from administrative procedures, including the removal of operational or implementation language that should be addressed outside of board policy. And all the revisions have been reviewed for legal compliance. And

081before I get get started with some of the individual policies, I just wanted to thank, uh, Mrs. Candace Dowse for her assistance with our policy updates over the last month preparing this information for you tonight. So, a brief explanation is given for each of our revised policies. Each revision should be reviewed, and the school board should determine whether to adopt the revision or make it or make its own changes. And some policies require local input before adoption. Um, as with all VSBA sample policies, each school board should decide whether to use the sample policy as written, modify the sample policies, develop our own policies, or decline to adopt a policy on a particular subject. Okay, so I'll go quickly go through the policies and there there's there's quite a few of them, so it will

082take me a little bit of time to go over this with you this evening. So, policy AE is school division goals and objectives. Language has been updated for clarity and to provide broader account for changes in the regulation. Policy AF is the comprehensive plan. It's been updated for clarity to reflect statute and DOE guidance, and they've added cross-references. Policy BBFA is school board member conflict of interests. This policy has been renamed and updated to change to include changes in Senate Bill 530, which amended Virginia Code. It's a significant rewrite to re- to remove language that was not required for this policy. Policy BCA is school school board organizational meeting. Um there have been some administrative changes only. Policy BDA, and I want to point this out to you. This is regular school board meetings. It's

083been added to be compliant with FOIA. An additional language from Senate Bill 699, which did amend the Virginia Code. And it has put restrictions on amending school board meeting agendas, okay? And the language is also updated for clarity. So, effective July 1st, the school board cannot add action items to the agenda once the meeting begins. Okay? So, that's a big change um for for for our board and for all school boards across Virginia, okay? So, once again, effective July 1st, the school board will not be allowed to add action items to its agenda after the meeting begins. Okay? So, policy CBCA is disclosure statement required of the superintendent. It's been revised and added a change to Senate Bill 530, which also amended the Virginia code. Policy CH, policy implementation, changes for clarity and added legal

084references. Policy EBB, threat assessment teams, it's added a new training requirement from House Bill 1071, which amended the Virginia code, and it changed the language more in line with statute and for clarity purposes. Also, they added cross-references. Policy EEAD, use of school buses, it's a significant rewrite to mirror the statute and new legal new legislation from House Bill 416, which amended the Virginia code, to allow for reimbursement of insurance costs. They also added legal and cross-references. Policy EFB, food services, it added requirements of House Bill 210, which amended the Virginia code to add a requirement for annual reporting of school meal debt. Substantially revised to remove language that is procedural administrative in nature and cleaned up for clarity, added cross-references. This policy, because we are a CEP, doesn't really apply to us, but I just

085want to make you aware of that. Policy EGAA is a reproduction of copyrighted materials, it's admin change only. Policy GAB-H, excuse me, IIBEA, acceptable computer system use, they added language from House Bill 171, which amended Virginia code, new requirements on internet safety, and it added a footnote on AI. Policy GAE, child abuse and neglect reporting and added language from House Bill 1414, which amended Virginia Code, adding certain personnel to the list of mandatory reporters, and also made clarifications. Policy GAH, school division employee conflict of interest. This policy has been renamed with a significant rewrite to remove language not required for policy and to mirror its rewrite of policy BBFA. Policy GBCB, this is a new policy, a wearable panic alarm for staff. It's optional. This is an optional policy created pursuant to House Bill 592,

086which was which added the to was added to the Virginia Code. Policy GCBEA is leave without pay. This is This added a new requirement from from House Bill 139, which amended the Virginia Code. Policy GCG, professional staff probationary term and continuing contract. It made a change in compliance with House Bill 125, which amended the Virginia Code, to make a change in notification requirements. Policy GCL, professional staff development. This policy was reworked to provide clarity and added requirements from House Bill 38 and amended the Virginia Code to add requirements for mental awareness training and added language consistent with the statutes. Policy GCN is evaluation of professional staff. It added language consistent with statute, deleted certain language that was removed, and it updated the Board of Education information. Policy GCBD is professional staff discipline. House It's coming

087off of House Bill 1301 and Senate Bill 122, which amended Virginia codes to allow employees to decline to deliver health-related services. And it also added cross-references to this policy. Policy GCPF is suspension of staff members. Um its language was clarified in accordance with House Bill 849, which amended the Virginia code to add a statute. Uh policy GEA/JOH, acceptance of electronic signatures and records. This was an administrative change only. Policy IA, instructional goals and objectives. This is a substantial rewrite to remove unnecessary language that is incorporated in other policies. Some language was incorporated into policy IK, which is academic planning and course selection. Policy IC- Excuse me, /ID, school year or school day. It added a change from Senate Bill 815 and House Bill 1455, which amended Virginia code to allow schools to begin 14 days

088before September 1st. It cleaned up its language and deleted older footnotes. Policy IGAG, teaching about drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and electronic devices. It added additional requirements from House Bill 1486 and Senate Bill 568, which amended the Virginia code to add scree screen time and time spent on electronic devices to the required instruction. And it added a cross-reference. Policy IGAI, a character education, had administrative changes only. Policy on driver education. It added requirement from House Bill 1352 which amended the Virginia code to add reckless driving to the required curriculum for driver education programs. Policy IGBC parent and family engagement, there were administrative changes only. Policy IGBJ off-site instruction and virtual courses, it updated the language to reflect changes in its regulations and updated legal references. Policy IAA sexually explicit instructional materials, it added language from Senate

089Bill 19 which amended the Virginia code and it had changes for clarity and added a legal reference. Policy IIAA textbook selection selection adoption and purchase changes were made pursuant to Senate Bill 955 and it added it added a legal reference. Policy IIBEA/GAB acceptable computer system use, it added language from House Bill 171 which amended the Virginia code. There are new requirements on internet safety and it added a footnote. Um policy IJ guidance and counseling program, these are administrative changes only with a legal reference added. Policy IK is a new policy academic planning and course selection. Um some language was taken from policy IAA notification of learning objectives and additional language came from Senate Bill 817 which also amended the Virginia code. Policy ILBC is a new policy college board school day program. It is a

090requirement in House Bill 410 which amended the Virginia code that requires an SAT or college day program at the high school annually. Policy JED, student absences, excuses, or dismissals. It added a new requirement from House Bill 653, which amended the Virginia Code. New provision it allows for excused absences for military dependents in certain situations. Additional added edits were made for clarity and it removed language that is procedural or administrative in nature. It updated citations and added cross-references. Policy JFCA is teacher removal of students from class. These were administrative changes and it added a footnote for clarification and an additional cross-reference. Policy JFCD, weapons on school property. It created a mirror pol- a mirror policy that of KGBA and it had administrative changes. Policy JFCM, student cell phone and smart device possession and use. It added

091changes pursuant to Senate Bill 108, which amended the Virginia Code. The use of electronics from bell to bell is now a mandatory prohibition. And it added additional clarification in the footnotes. Policy JGDA, discipline of students with disabilities. It substantially revised to remove language that is procedural or administrative in nature and clarity was added. Policy JHC, student health services. It added a new school nurse training requirement from Senate Bill 822 and House Bill 1446. That added Virginia Code reference and added additional clarifying languages in the footnotes. Policy JHCD, administering medicines to students. It added requirements from Senate Bill 122 and House Bill 1301 that amended the Virginia codes and added a code language to the policy and clarified some language. Policy JJAG, student athlete extreme heat safety and protection. This policy, it changed the legal reference

092to reflect the updated provision number in the code and added a link to current guidelines. Policy JLB is a new policy, which is financial aid information and guidance for high school students. It's a new requirement added by House Bill 1095, which um added the Virginia code reference. Policy JOB, administration of surveys and questionnaires. This was updated to ensure compliance with federal and state laws and it added a legal citation. Policy JOH /GEA, acceptance of electronic signatures and records. It had administrative changes only. Policy JS is a new policy, extracurricular activity notification, which is a new requirement from Senate Bill 245, which added the Virginia code reference. Policy KGBA/JFCD is a new policy, weapons on school property. This is only a mirror policy to policy JFCD to add this policy to a section inclusive of all

093persons. It had previously only been in the J section, which is under student policies. So, it's weapons on school property are in two different There's two different policies now. Policy KKA, service animals in public schools. An add additional language was added pursuant to Senate Bill 245, which amended the Virginia Code to define a three-unit service dog team and language was updated. Policy KP, parental rights and responsibilities, it added a new notification requirement pursuant to Senate Bill 109, which amended Virginia Code and added new legal references, and this policy mirrors policy IK, academic planning and course selection. Policy KPA is a new policy, parental notification of safe storage of prescription drugs and firearms. This is a new requirement per Senate Bill 817, which amended the Virginia Code. Those are the VSBA policies that are um up

094for review this cycle. I do want to share with you um policy JC BDR, which is sick leave, personal leave, and unpaid leave for employees, okay? And this is going to be an update or a revision to our current policy. Under section B, personal leave, personal leave may accumulate to a maximum of 5 days. Personal leave balances in excess of 5 days as of June 30th will carry forward as sick leave if not used. So, this allows our employees to save their personal leave over the course of a couple of years and build up 5 days of personal leave that they could utilize for an upcoming wedding or an upcoming big vacation or something of that nature. Um under section D of this policy, we've added uh under unpaid leave, leave days taken that are

095not earned will result in a deduction of pay based on the employee's daily rate in that pay period. So, that clarifies our our process for when an employee has to take leave that they do not have days for. Okay? There's a There's a leave dock there. Um Okay? So, that is policy revision >> Yes. >> The on on the leave where they're being docked if they take they take time off without having leave. Um is is that um applicable to those contracted employees? Because if they have a contract um it it seems like that may be different. >> They're contracted for certain number of days, but they earn leave based on their status. A 10 For example, a 10-month employee and teachers are 10-month employees, they earn 10 sick days per year. >> Right. No,

096I I understand that's that. I'm the part where you said that they if you have an employee that takes a day and they don't have leave, they will be deducted based on their daily pay, but if they have a contract um are they contracted that they're not an hourly employee anymore? It's a contracted, right? >> But, they they If they don't have the leave and they take the leave, then it then they're not they're not getting paid for days that they did not work. >> So, they're not a So, I I guess what I'm trying to figure out are they exempt or non-exempt salaried employees would be the question. Because that would determine the law that that covers those >> It's applicable to both types of employees, hourly and contracted. Exempt and non-exempt. >> A1

097has it. A1 has it. Each contracted {slash} full-time employee will earn a maximum one day per month. So, this policy is written around each contracted {slash} full-time employee. It's the way it reads anyway in the A1 part of it, sick leave. >> Okay. Does that need to be in the contract? I I think that needs to be in the contract if we're going to if we do adopt it. I'm I'm just trying to figure that I just don't want to get us painted in a corner that and we do something that's against labor law. >> He's asking if that should be in the contract that they have. >> Cuz right now this being the first read, we can add that. >> That's just what I'm asking. That's just something to think about as we go

098forward. This is just first reading, I know. >> Yeah. And this is not one of the ones that's due on the 24th, right? >> This is one that's going to be due on June 24th that we're going to need to take action on June 24th. This This particular policy. >> You could be here on the 24th? >> I will. >> Okay. >> Lord willing. >> The leave policy is already in effect. We're just adjusting the fact that they will be docked, which that that's always been the policy. It just was never written. So, we're just clarifying a policy that we're already using. We're putting it in writing. We're putting it in writing. It's already in place. It's already being enacted. >> Okay. So, this next policy is a new policy and this is salary checks

099and deductions. Um So, this policy is needed if we're going to be moving to um two pays per month. We're going to have mandatory um requirement for direct deposit. Okay? And so, you can review that policy um and we can go and we can go over it again on June 24th. We also have a We also include a direct deposit authorization form as part of as part of the policy. >> And again, this is all already in place. This is just putting a regulation in writing so that we have something to um There's There's There's no changes to any practices. This is just putting it in writing. >> Some of this we've already had discussions about in the past anyway. >> Correct. >> I did have one little correction. >> Okay. >> Um on that

100uh policy BBFA under I >> BBFA? >> Yes. It says school board members must and it should be fully. It's got f i l l y. It should be f u l l y. >> Okay. >> And under the school buses um I [snorts] just want to make us look at this a little bit harder, but um when they're talking about letting other people ride our school buses, um I really feel like this needs to be looked at pretty closely. And if we [snorts] do this, will we need to adopt a form for each use or for such a use because I feel like we've got to cover ourselves on that type of thing. That's the EEAD. I'm sorry. I didn't say that. >> Yeah, you just >> I'm sorry. That's just just something that

101I looked at and I thought, well, wait a minute. I don't know if we do this or not. >> I'm say say that again. The what's policy number again? I'm sorry. >> EEAD. Okay. So, you want us to take a lot of closer look at that one? >> Yes. We I think we all need to. >> Okay. >> Because we might need to adopt a form if we choose to go that direction. And then that one with leave without pay um is that the GCBA? No, that's another one. It On that one, it didn't have how many days. So, I was kind of wondering what it meant by that. >> I I guess what um if you >> We have to We have to fill it in. >> Yes, we fill we fill that in.

102Yes. If they have three days that they had to take off and they didn't have leave for those three days, then it would be three days without pay, or it'd be one day without pay, depending on their particular circumstance. >> All right. And then, those two that we did we need to make sure we bring those two back about the uh >> weapons in the school? >> Yes. >> Okay. We have not voted on those We when we did our last approval, we did we tabled that. We do need to We do need to further discuss those two policies. >> and JFCD. >> Yes. >> I don't kept it down. >> Whatever. >> Trying to make sure we covered it. >> They're They're all listed Those two are listed in this these updates. >> I

103know that was quite a lot of information, okay? But, I wanted to kind of go through them. Now, I will I will give you um peace of mind. We did We have provided two layers of information for our administrators on these policy updates. The first I shared during admin retreat myself, policy updates that were new or substantial changes with all of our administrators, school counselors, and special education leads. They all received that information from me. And then, they received on day one. On day two, they received another layer of professional development from um our school board attorney from Sands Anderson in person, who provided a legal update, which covered many of these policy big policy changes. And they received a PDF of that legal update from Sands Anderson. So, we have spent quite a bit

104of time already with our administrators, school counselors, and special education lead teachers, and lead at lead administrators on policy updates going into next school year. >> Does that conclude that one? >> That concludes my report. >> Okay. >> [laughter] >> All right. Um let's go to 6.12 recommend approval of setting the 2026-2027 reorganization meeting of the Buckingham County School Board to Wednesday, July 8th, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. in the cafeteria of the Buckingham Middle School. I do have one question on that. Does that mean we don't have closed session beforehand? >> [laughter] >> Um no. That's the one to start with the regular meeting would be 5:00. >> Okay. So, we won't have closed >> So, we do it on the back end. >> Yeah. Well, I'm just making sure where everybody knows that. >>

105We can change it to say 3:00 closed. We can change this to say 3:00 closed if that be what you want to be clear. >> Well, I I mean I I'm just asking cuz I want to make sure we all >> We will. We we can change it. >> Okay. >> Madam Chair, I recommend approval of setting the 2026-2027 reorganizational meeting of the Buckingham County School Board to Wednesday, July 8th, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. in the cafeteria of Buckingham Middle School school with the same closed session starting at 3:00. >> Second. >> Motion was made by Mr. Schnieder and seconded by Mr. Goodman to set the reorganization meeting of our School Board to Wednesday, July 8th at 5:00 p.m. with closed session at 3:00 p.m. in this cafeteria. Any questions? All those in favor, please

106raise your hand. That's unanimous. Motion carries. That leads us to 7.01 School Board Member Committee Updates. >> If I may, Mr. Hassell, if you want to come on up. Is he in there? There he is. Uh Dr. Reasoner, would you like to speak towards the the shuffle of monies for >> Yes. And so, I would So, I'll just kind of kind of tell you a little little story here. So, I've been thinking over time about, you know, we're always seem to be behind the eight ball with some of our projects because the way our money is distributed among among the categories, when we need when we desire to move money between categories, we have to go to the Board of Supervisors and ask permission for that and as an action item before we do it,

107okay? And that sets us back a month because of the meeting times. And so I got to thinking and I said, "You know, I said let's have a conversation with Mr. Chambers and Mr. Carter and um Ms. Shanks at the at the um um county office and let's just talk about what we can do, okay? Could we could we could we work some things out? And my thought was you know what, during the months of April, May, and June, we're towards the end of the school year, we kind of know what our end of the year balance is looking more more like of what money we have projected to be to have left over, and we also have a list of things that we need to address over the summer. So it's a great time

108to kind of marry those two things. And so we went to the board and we asked permission for them to allow us to have some flexibility right now to get a jump start on some capital improvement projects that we could get done during June prior to June 30th, May and June prior to June 30th. And the Board of Supervisors, they were so accommodating. They were gracious for us asking and we had a great conversation. And so we have decided they decided, "Hey, just come back at the July meeting and share with us a report and put your formal request in at that time with exactly what you're able to accomplish and the cost." And so we've been working very hard. Mr. Heslep and his team have been absolutely phenomenal and our vendor partners and he'll

109elaborate a little bit further on that, but we this was a tremendous gift of time provided to us from the board of supervisors and we are immensely thankful for their support and we're rocking and rolling and things getting things done that we didn't think we would get done in the in the next year. And so I'd like to turn it over to him and allow you to elaborate further on what we've been able to do. >> Thank you so much. I'd like to [clears throat] thank Dr. Reasoner for bringing this up and getting the ball rolling on this. Also the whole board of supervisors for allowing us to do that including Dr. Garrett behind me and Mr. Chambers as well. We've been able to we keep a list for the facilities committee and also with

110the security committee things that we'd like to do. This year the timeline was tight so there may not be some of the things that are on that capital improvement list or the security list because the timeline's tight. So what you what you see now is something that I believe that that we're actually getting done right now in the length of time that we have to do it. First for the whole district we are upgrading our EBI server which has been a cybersecurity nightmare for about five years. Patrick and his IT team have been patching that together using an old person's term with Bondo and bailing wire to make sure that that thing is not caused us any security hacks or hazards. So we've got that under underway. Also we purchased a year or two ago

111the actual server and the IT department aka Patrick has already got that out of the box. It's ready for Honeywell to start rolling over the software piece so that's already in in progression should be finished up in the next week or two. At the high school as you know that's the that's the building that requires the most attention because it's our oldest building. It's our it's our flagship. It's been around a long time. The gym floor is getting recoded. The classroom the wood floors in the classrooms are also getting recoded. The cafeteria floor that has looked as ugly as a dog for quite a while. We've had to nurse it along. This year it's getting an facelift and an upgrade, much needed. Um it will look like the the cottage that we got to do

112a few years ago. Thank you for that, which looks immaculate. And we're hoping to have that same result with the cafeteria floor at the high school. Um we had Slate River, I mean um our slate roof uh was redone today uh as far as some valleys and work was concerned. We had some leaks there. Again, that's been around since 1939, so we had to have some work done there as well. That was completed uh yesterday. Sorry. Uh the CTE building, we have had one classroom there that was in desperate need of some uh bringing it back to um more modern teaching. And so we uh have worked on that. That's part of this as well. So that classroom's getting a a much needed upgrade. The middle school will get a gym uh floor recode. And

113on the day we had to go down to uh speak to folks, we had a chiller uh at the middle school here, two circuits of our four circuits went down. Uh one has a freon leak and that has now been repaired. So as we've talked about before with maintenance and facilities and capital improvements, we try to hold that budget right till the end because we never know what's going to break and we need to make sure that we have enough to cover what we got. But this year we're blessed, we had that happen and we have the funds now to take care of that. That's already been done. We're running off of three circuits here at the middle school. We do have one more circuit that's down, but that's under coverage and we're going to

114get that done later in the summer. Um the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Educational Complex is getting two new um hot water heaters that are propane burners. Um that's quite expensive. They're getting We've already had those signed the contract. They're being ordered. The parts got came yesterday. Sorry. These all these things are run together, but he came yesterday to give us the final hooking together part. So, when those two pieces of equipment come in, we can put those in ASAP. The gym floor will also get a recoat down there, and we also had a classroom um window breakage, and so we've got that on the list as well. Um and that's in the final stages. All we need to do is get the lift there, and then we're going to have that done in the next

115couple of weeks. We also had some sprinkler repairs that were done down there as well. And lastly, the pre-K. Uh we have ordered the uh playground equipment to get that uh back up to par, and those parts were 2 weeks into a 4-week wait time. So, those should be in shortly, and that is a local install with our maintenance team. Um and they should be in and we'll complete this um project hopefully before the end of June. So, a lot of things uh that are on the list we've already got done, in the process of, and we really appreciate the opportunity to to click some of these things off the list. We'd have We'd have been staying around looking if we wouldn't have had this opportunity. >> And and next year's going to even be

116better because we'll have April, May, and June, and and we're going to continue to have conversations with the Board of Supervisors and keep them well informed of of everything we're doing working on. Um and we look forward to our big presentation with them in July at their meeting to fully update them on everything that we've done so far over the summer. >> Wonderful. >> One question. I know this is a part of that, but what about the tennis courts? Are they >> Great. I was hoping somebody would ask me that. So, on um not related to what we just talked about, these are different funds and a different timeline. Uh the tennis courts are on tap 1st of July. I talked to our vendor uh yesterday. All these These run together for me, so it's

117sometime this week I spoke to the vendor and um we are on tap for July start. He's thinking it would be 4 weeks. Normally they are pretty quick once they get here. I'm thinking two two to three. Uh and that will be completed and we also have some work that's being done at the complex. You remember our January um issue that we had with HVAC. We're addressing that with the primary school and we're waiting till after summer school to do that as well. So in the middle of July we'll be heavily into that project at the primary school as well. >> Okay. Thank you. Anyone else have any questions for Mr. Heslip? Thank you, Mr. Heslip. >> Thank you, Mr. Heslip. >> Do we have any other um committee updates? Any other business? >> I

118just wanted to say that I visited the um some of the uh summer programs uh at the uh Carter G. Woodson Carter G. Woodson complex and it was looking wonderful. Uh my daughter's they're having a wonderful time uh with this. So thank you all for your efforts and uh all of the programs keeping them engaged and keeping them doing something. So thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. And I also wanted to cover um thank you for the yearbooks whoever um provided those. Uh Mr. Tally, thank you. And I also wanted to make sure that if we are having graduation that they go ahead and get fundraising going like they did last year. Okay. >> [laughter] >> Um and I also wanted to um talk about the cost of athletic events and the possibility of uh

119giving a either a reduced price or free for uh our senior citizens. And I'm thinking we're talking at about 62 and older, but you know, some of us might feel like we're senior citizens before they >> [laughter] >> Show your AARP card, is that what you said? >> I don't have one. But I I would like for us to kind of vet that and and see what the pulse is about that. >> Do we need to put that for an agenda item next month? I don't think it's relevant. >> Well, we can talk about it at the June 24th meeting. Um we could run some scenarios, we could develop some scenarios for your consideration. Okay, what would be what would be the cost if we did a reduction this first year, okay, or um full-blown,

120you know, >> [snorts] >> free of charge admission what the potential cost would be and and Mr. Coach Gowan is here in the audience, maybe he can share some information quickly with us. >> I think it's going to be critical since we already had the brief on how much money we don't take in at the gates, right? To be able to see what we got as far as personnel coming in and the impacts to the bottom line. Cuz at the end of the day the community doesn't like the prices we've got now, right? So when you start cutting out individuals of certain age groups or certain elements of the community, you're looking at the others having to capture that cost. So at the end of the day I don't want to cut into what we

121got for the, you know, athletic, you know, program. >> We got some numbers together for Dr. Reed and and she's looking at it at this time and she's got some great ideas and got some things that may go down June 24th for you all to vote on. >> Okay, excellent. >> excited about what what she's talking about. >> Okay, excellent. Look forward to it. >> Adam and I are very blessed that we see museum free, so she's going to find a way. I just feel it. >> [laughter] >> Well, I think it would be a nice gesture in the community when if we're able to do something for our senior citizens who support our athletics and and want to see their grandkids um um at their at their athletic events. >> of the biggest supporters

122of the the association. >> They're huge. And so, it's going to require us to think a little think a little creatively. And you know, I even talked with Mr. Redd about that with what you know, what what the SCA could do to help us possibly offset some of this. And so, we're going to we're going to have another conversation. And we're going to be ready for June 24th. >> Sounds good. >> Okay. Is there any other news?