NCPS - Regular School Board Meeting - February 20, 2025

001[Music] meeting for it says February 13th but I mean February 20th oh I'm not going to read all that I'm calling it to order um everybody can stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I think super fans would be super fans lead us in the pledge thank you okay you ready yeah I alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republ for it stands one nation God indivisible liy and justice for all thank you so much now don't forget yeah yeah so I would like to get an A a motion to approve the agenda I'll move we approve the agenda as presented second we need to move it sorry yep we need to yeah we need to amend the agenda remove the national recognition of National School counseling week to our

002next meeting since they are not to be here so okay um can we approve the agenda with that amendment to it all right uh I move that we approve the agenda uh with the deletion of or the move move of uh Part D National School counseling week to the uh meeting in March I'll second all in favor uh no be opposed for abstaining the agenda is approved as modified um next we have school board appreciation all right so uh for those of you who don't know February is School Board appreciation month so we have a uh Proclamation whereas the education of Virginia school children is the foundation upon which economic social and intellectual capital of our state is built and whereas locally elected and appointed school boards play an important and vital role in constitutional

003republic and decisions made by local Boards of Education directly influence instruction in Virginia in Virginia's public schools and whereas these decisions affect the present and future lives of children and also set direction to prepare all students to be competitive in a local State national and Global 21st century knowledge economy and whereas local Schoolboard members work with parents businesses education professionals and other community members to create the educational Vision we want for our students and whereas this year's theme champions of opportunity advocates for excellence highlights the efforts made by our school board members to create Pathways for student achievement and Innovation on behalf of all students and whereas Schoolboard appreciation month provides an opportunity to celebrate Virginia's school board members who Champion the mission of public education and now therefore be it where as Nelson County

004Public Schools recognizes the contributions of the state's local school boards to the academic success of its public school students and expresses its sincerest recognition to local school board members and they focus on the well-being and achievement of children throughout the state and be it finally whereas Nelson County Public Schools recognizes February 2025 as school board appreciation month encourages local school divisions and Community leaders to appropriately recognize our state's dedicated school board members so I'm behalf of Nelson County Public Schools want to thank you all for everything that you do to Advocate and represent our students staff at our community so thank you very much um for those the audience each of our schools as well as central office has collected some items of appreciation that they wanted to provide um and so enjoy those they

005are heartfelt and in many instances personalized and so continue to uh just show the appreciation back that you all in addition to school board appreciation it is also School Board clerk appreciation week so U Miss Tammy pton will you please join me up here they were already up here all right no no all right so whereas you don't have a good view there at all okay whereas Schoolboard clerks in each locality throughout our great Commonwealth are appointed by law to fulfill their duties and responsibilities and whereas School Board clerks are responsible for keeping accurate records of the meetings and proceedings of the school board a record of all receipts and dispersements and a record of all official acts and whereas Schoolboard clerks perform such other duties in connection with the school business of her his

006County and city as may be required by the school board and whereas School Board clerks maintain frequent contact with public including parents employees in the media on behalf of the school board and superintendent and whereas School Board clerks in the performance of their duties are often required to work extra at not you never Reed extra hours attending school board meetings and whereas School Board clerks help to ensure students achieve their Highest Potential and provide an invaluable service for school board members and superintendents and now therefore the vsba board of directors does hereby recognize February 17th through the 21st of 2025 School Board clerk Appreciation Week in the Commonwealth of Virginia so congratulations thank you so much for everything that you do taking pictures alrighty alrighty Rue and it's h now the one Nelson Awards hold

007on I'm I'm picking someone oh okay it was so close not not really I want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row January was a big month so I know not everybody was able to make it and we have a bunch of mugs over here you want me to help you with I'll be that be fantastic all right we're up exactly all right so um I don't think Isaac was able to make a was oh you're right in front of literally okay you come join me please do you want me to come join me I would love for you I think everybody else okay it is all right so everybody this is Isaac and it's m right mer okay I started off Isaac merer he is our student recipient of the

008one Nelson award for January um Isaac stopped along 29 to assist a family who is experiencing car trouble the mother posted a very nice message on social media expressing her gratitude to Isaac for caring enough to stop and help out the mother mentioned that she felt that they were in a dangerous area of the highway and she felt unsafe as she could not move the car the mother then mentioned that she that he was the first person to stop and check on them another man was able to move their car to safety and it was a great measure of of ACC compliment when the mother honors another parent for how they are raising their son so congratulations so and that his actions are reflect of those efforts at a time where it is very easy

009to get caught up in our daily lives or focus on student academic achievement it is nice to take a moment to recognize important acts of kindness which I think probably are greater than anything else that we can recognize in giving these are critical characteristics that often get overlooked but are so important to others in our community Isaac's actions represent the kind citizenship and behavior that is an asset to any community in a true sense of one Nelson spirit so we want to say congratulations thank you so much you're right here this is is it swag it is swag oh my gosh I get swag feel so special it's I'm going to keep it in a little CU you don't I'll break it but it has one nail on I'm not that clumsy man I am

010together yes yeah he's he's a trip said you're a trip I'm going to take that my bad cut me deep so we're gonna come over here and Mr Ashley should all right so he was our student recipient we have quite a few of our community recipients um who stepped up yes did you have a okay we'll make sure we get you a picture too because that could have happened in front of a lot of classmates I was prepared for that I was excited about it but yes all right um all right so uh back in November uh for the third year we were able to provide turkeys for each one of our staff members uh as a way of saying thank you so much for everything that you do um and this year um we

011um kind of had a a multitude of community members who stepped up to help us so the first individual that I want to recognize is Mr Stephen White from food l so please come join me so food line in Lovingston led by manager Steven supported all of our ncps great turkey the great turkey drop 2024 by working with ncps and food line corporate to obtain turkeys for for all scps employees initially he worked hard to get these turkeys at a reduced costs this collaboration was two months in the making and resulted in a lot of happy ncps staff with a delicious turkey for Thanksgiving not only does Our Food Lion serve our community throughout Nelson County but is a great supporter of our employees and students the effort was truly in the spirit of one

012Nelson so thank you so much um you this U certificate we're going to this picture so maybe if we come over this way all right thank you so much thank you thank you so much you want me to organize them for you we're good we're good we're good um so also one of and I'm not sure if they're able to be here Aton Mountain Vineyard we have a representative from Aton Mountain um Aton Mountain was one of the groups uh from Nelson 151 we have um a parent and a representative from um Blue Mountain uh who was a able to work with others within that group to contribute and donate that allowed us to help um purchase those turkeys and so um Aton was one of those individuals that was able to donate money so

013we appreciate that greatly and want to say thank you um because this isn't the first time that they've uh donated to the turkeys I believe I I remember our first year doing this they were one of the ones that and then helped distribute them out to everybody so I really appreciate the commitment that they make not only to the the community overall but to our students and our staff so thank you so so much thank you okay um Taylor smack was uh one of The Originators and he um from Blue Mountain Taylor worked with Nelson 151 members to get donations to support the third annual turkey drop for our Nelson County Public School Employees uh to receive a frozen turkey so he then coordinated with a lot of these other groups in order to be

014able to to make that happen and and donated some money to the cause so we appreciate his efforts and thank him very much um he's ever presentent in a lot of the things that we do so we appreciate that support so thank you Mr smack Wild Man Dan we have representatives from Wild Man Dan no okay that's all right it's um they they did reach out a lot of them said there was a lot going on this evening um and then even a month from now there's some other event taking place so it's difficult to get them involved this is also the second time Wild Man Dan has contributed money to being able to get um turkeys for all of our staff so um they've they've shown up and uh supported us every time we've

015needed them to do so so we want to say thank you to Wild Man Dan so thank you three noted anyone from three not no running out of Road here all right so three not was also individuals um not only did they help support us um uh for an administrative retreat uh last summer but they stepped up again for um the turkeys and being able to donate some money so we appreciate everything that they do for us thank you three and Valley Road Vineyards Valley Road any NOP okay darn it so valley roads is also second year U that they were able to donate and um money but also time and being able to support us in the great turkey draft of 20124 so thank you so much for um gosh Janu um for the

016January certif or sorry classified group um we kind of did something a little bit unique in that um we um created a group um made up of um Patty moram and Sharon aldd I didn't create them but I'm putting them together for this award so will Patty morham and Sharon Aldridge please come up here they are also known as superans so um Nelson up up yep yep Patty moram and Sharon aldrid are self-described super fans as you can see however it is easy to see how well the name describes them these ncps super fans can be seen and heard at all types of Nelson County Public School events from athletic games theater Productions band and choir performances fundraisers and school-based events the spirit and energy they bring bring to supporting all things Nelson County Public

017Schools especially our students is amazing The Pride they bring to what they do every day is with spirit and energy they uh brain is infectious both can be heard down the hallway in a positive interactions with their colleagues and students and are visible in every way our super fans are greatly appreciated so we want to say thank you very much we'll also have another one for you um you get two mugs it's a big deal oh my good thank you very much apprciate thank you guys right here thank you all right um so the fourth category for our one melon Awards is the um certified group and for this back in January we had National um uh or I'm sorry Virginia school principal week and so um School principls are quite frequently some of some

018of the people that do a lot of things behind the scenes and they spend a lot of time working um not only during the day but after um after hours and then having to come in and do some things that aren't always listed under their job description other than all other duties assigned so uh we um for for uh the one Nelson award because all of them have been nominated and actually multiple times we want to recognize all four of our principles which is um Kevin Walker from uh the high school Scott Boo from the Middle School Jody coffee from Rockfish River Elementary and Heather Coughlin at Tha River and we want to say thank you to Nelson County Public School principles your leadership dedication and vision are at the heart of Student Success staff

019support and a thriving School Community through your commitment to building strong relationships and fostering a positive School culture you create an environment where students teachers and families can flourish your hard work and service to your schools does not go unnoticed and we celebrate you for the incredible impact you make every day we appreciate all that you do congratulations so we want to say thank you to all four of our principles who are not able to make okay and if we take a quick pause because I gotta find February so my apologies talk yourself okay I'm excited I'm back at it okay um we do know that our first um recipient for February so guys get readyy will you want to join me please all right okay all right so does anybody figure out where Tinley

020Goes to School anyone I met Tinley last year how did I meet you I think yeah that's right day after school okay big impression made good all right so uh Tinley was nominated under the student category so Tinley has faced many challenges as a result of her ADHD but she still strives to do her best she's the best friend any one person could have and is always willing to help anyone who may need it she understands her challenges and faces them head on we are so proud of her and her work e ethic in her classes so I mean you work really really hard and you're great with other people how do you feel about that awesome so we want to say congratulations you got nominated to win this award and out of everybody nominated

021for the student category you won for February so congratulations things are happening okay so I'm going to give you that and then we're going to step right over here we're going to stand you see Mr Ashley right there we're going to stand right there and we're gonna take a picture awesome good job you good want take next up is our Community winner for February for the one Nelson award so will miss Sarah Turner please please stand so Sarah Turner perfectly embodied the spirit of the one Nelson award through her profound and unwavering commitment to the community over the years she has selflessly volunteered her time to all four schools and not just those her those of her children attend a proud melson native Sarah's dedication is evident in her role in organizing significant events such

022as the future Governor's Camp tailgates and sta lunches she carries out these efforts not for recognition but out of a genuine care and love for her community her commitment also includes planning future initiatives to further enhance school spirit and provide ongoing support to the community Beyond her numerous contributions Sarah's an amazing person and friend always ready to lend a hand her passion and selflessness truly make her deserving of this honor reflecting the very essence of what the one Nelson award represents so congratulations thank you for all that you do you want to her back so you get a better picture I think she does come on back I feel like I feel like you're oh did you want a picture too no no so close one more time all right one more time all right

023next up for a classified Position will miss Jennifer derky please join in congratulations thank you all right all right so um the individual who nominated who works with you I have the privilege of working with Miss dery at nms and I'm consistently impressed with her dedication positive attitude and outstanding support for both staff and students Miss dery is always willing to land a helping hand wherever and whenever needed she approaches every task with a positive mindset and an eagerness to assist her dedication to supporting students is particularly evident in addition to her exceptional work with students Miss derky consistently demonstrates excellent collaboration skills she works effectively with all stakeholders teachers staff and parents always striving to create a positive and productive environment for everyone involved her ability to collaborate and provide thoughtful meaningful support is

024truly an asset to our school Community I Believe Miss dery embodies the values and qu qualities of one Nelson award and I strongly recommend her for this recognition so congratulations we [Music] all right uh last but not least for February is our certified so Mr Tom Allen come I thought you go there all right Tom Allen is the epitome of one Nelson in the last year he has stepped in and taken on more responsibility for the sake of the students he truly teaches with their best interest at heart he's not only a phenomenal teacher in the way that he presents and remediates material but he also teaches with a sense of compassion and understanding he helps students grasp material and will make learning relevant his teaching strategies and work sorry I'm just messed it up

025um his teach I'm still messing it up so teacher strategies and worked well with students until they understand a concept from a current student and this is a quote from a current student he is passionate and knowledgeable and other student says that he helps reduce the stress of the work plus he is fun and engaging he makes me feel comfortable to ask questions Tom Allen is certainly a teacher to celebrate our division is better and more unified because of him and the passion that he brings to his work every day so we want to say congratulations thank you so much there you go all right you want to stand up and take it you want be in as well okay so the next one is the Difference Maker Awards yes so um we were actually

026able to celebrate um Difference Maker Awards um the weeks are blending together because we've had storms in both of the weeks but um we were able to celebrate and it's a Virginia Department of Education um award and so during National School counseling we ofia we acknowledge is at least one counselor per region we were able to get two slipped in there so we're pretty excited about that to highlight tremendous impact that school counselors have in the lives of students our division had two recipients for region five which were Zack when and summer white Zach um is at the high school and summer white is um at the high school and middle school so she's that transition counselor working with our eighth graders at the middle school and our ninth graders um at the high school

027so we just want to say um congratulations to those two individuals uh we'll be recognizing our counselors um in in the March meeting but we did want to recognize to everyone that that was um something that we celebrated a little bit a week or two ago so wanted to make sure that we publicly announce that as well right I got to get all that stuff in all right we're now we're on from comments from board members um Miss Turner Giles you want to start us off sure um so first of all just thank you to our administrators for all of what you do I know it is not easy with all of the weather that we have had but I appreciate all the care and concern that you all put into making the decision of

028whether school is open or not um not always a popular decision amongst all but the fact that you put Safety First is what matters so thank you thank you thank you um my next comment has to go to miss Shannon Irvin you know Shannon I don't know how many years I had to add up that I had the pleasure of hearing you talk about budget um I'm I'm finally getting it but it's only because of the way you take so much care in explaining it to us um I don't care if the news is good or bad it is the right news and it's because of you that we've been so creative with what we've been able to do with a little bit of funds that we get um so I don't know that we

029always acknowledge all of the hard work that you put into that but I just wanted to say thank you um it means a lot it means a lot to our students it means a lot to um how we are able to do all of the programming and everything that we do for Nelson um just a personal note um I told my father that we were going over budget and his comment was oh I hope Miss Irvin is giv the message so everybody knows from way back when how well you have done with the budget so thank you thank you thank you um on that I will say to the public it is not going to be an easy year for us um there are a lot of mandates there are a lot of things that

030are coming down the pipe we need your help in making sure that uh we hear your concerns and know that we always want to put students first in every decision that we make um so thank you as well um my final thank you goes to um back to our Administration um back to our um ad back to our principal Kevin Walker um we had a situation where we um raised a concern and asked for them to support us at a particular event not only did they hear us but they showed up so I am saying thank you to you thank you to Kevin Walker thank you to Mr Mullins on behalf of the parents your presence was not just known but it was felt um and for that I think our our team did a

031whole lot better because they were able to focus on what was important so thank you again um finally I will say to our super fans I think you all need to ask for some uniforms because I for one see you all at everything and I'd like to see you decked out in Nelson gear so uh please see ma before you leave girl um also finally we we've got a lot of excitement in the air um I hope people are ready for hopefully we'll play our last game we'll see what happens I know the boys are ready to play um we've got regional track that is coming up so that's pretty exciting for a lot of our players but we also have a school play so if you haven't gotten your tickets I know that seats

032are filling up um so I would encourage you to do that as well sorry uh thank you very much uh Mr Chief your turn um so I'm not going to run down the very long list of very deserving people that won award Awards uh through the one Nelson Awards this evening but I do want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you for being involved as you are and for the people that couldn't be here for the um providing the turkeys and and things like that it um it is pretty amazing to see um what our community is able to do uh when they come together and it's a bunch of individuals that are working together as a team and uh so I I think that's pretty cool um that's something um it

033may not be unique anywhere in the world but it's it's Unique here I mean we I I would I would put what we do alongside of anybody else what they do in any other locality um and I think it's all for the betterment of these kids um I want to thank the administration and uh the School principles and teachers maintenance and transportation for all the hard work and uh and parents for all of the patience uh during these cold weather events I was just telling Miss chal GES we were walking in together and I said I remember way back in October when they said this was a linia winter and we weren't going to have anything and here we are um so uh but hopefully the worst is behind us uh the next couple of

034weeks look like it's going to warm up and if we can get ourselves into March then then maybe we'll be over the hump uh but thank you to everybody for for doing that um it is uh it may not show at home but it is uh unsettling to kids to be in and out in and out of school it certainly shows in the classroom um you take children that have been out you know we were out for a couple of weeks for uh Christmas and then we were out for a week or whatever for a storm um and uh so it's it's hard to get back up and going but uh thank you to everybody for making that happen um and thank you uh Miss Irvin for the budget presentation uh this year is going

035to be um a challenging year for sure uh we have a lot of needs in our budget uh that need to be met uh you know we we will um be working with the Board of Supervisors to try to secure the necessary funding uh for this budget but the safety uh security health well-being um and advancement of our students is is what our those are our objectives uh pretty much in that order I think um so that's what we work for every day and when you look inside that budget whether it's pay raises for teachers or it's a new waterline for the high school because it's the water Line's 50 or 60 years old all of that is for the betterment of these kids so so got thank you Mr Perkins um just want to

036say um thank you to my other two colleagues for their remarks and they covered just about all of it and um but I did have the opportunity this past Sunday to attend uh Black History Month um program at the bright Hope Baptist Church where they honored um black leaders in the community there were also the past and present teachers past and present administrators um just community members that do a lot for Nelson and the things that you know that go unseen um and I had the opportunity to also you know to be there and the program was well put together I mean it was a very good day for you know black history month everything was well coordinated put together things just flowed really nicely and I just thought it was um being me didn't

037want to be there but but you know after being there I enjoyed the whole the whole day so um just thanks to Bright Hope Baptist Church for putting that on and um recognizing black history moment and their facility thank you well there's not a whole lot left for me at this point after everybody spoke so eloquently but um I would like to again give acknowledgement to Shannon there's a reason that we call Shannon Yoda and it's she knows all but um I you know the years that I've been on the board it like Mrs Gil said M Turner G said the way you present it it has made it easier and I don't know that I'll ever fully get it to the extent that you get it but thank you I I I hope people

038understand the advocacy and all the work you've done for our County and our community over the years because I think when we talk about unson heroes and people not seen um sometimes you're one of those so we thank you no not sometimes she is yeah there y she is that The Rock So Tammy thank you I know you retired we're glad to have you back and glad to acknowledge you um being back uh we've missed you the one month you were gone so don't do that again you know left um the schools give us every year an acknowledgement for Schoolboard appreciation they give us a packet of items that are really super meaningful and very very special the kids have a part in it the the administration the staff have a part in it and

039I I hope when we get to the next meeting we always feel like we're kind of a step away from saying thank you for that so I want to acknowledge that now that it is so special to us and you all are the reason that we do we definitely do what we do so thank you um the one Nelson winners Isaac I don't know if you even begin to realize how important that one thing you did was we were kind of in a period where you looked at Nelson nose and you saw kind of all the chatter on Facebook it just wasn't really super positive and you pop in with one little act and it was an amazing thing and so I hope you understand that that was so much bigger than just that one

040that one little act because it was so much positivity that pushed out on social media after you did that so um we never know that one thing that we do and the impact that it might have in in Greater places all contagious absolutely good but gets good right um and then all the other one Nelson wers thank you I mean I'm really a little concerned about the super fans that they're just not hypee enough but quite quiet guys we got a lot of like I think everybody said we got a lot of unknowns coming up right we've got um we don't know what budgets are going to look like rolling down we don't know things about what's going to happen to the Department of Education I mean there all these things elephants in the room

041that we know very little about the one thing we do know is that whether it's today whether it's tomorrow whether it's the next school year in August we're going to have kids showing up at the building and we're going to have a responsibility that we have to take care of them we have to educate them not only do we have to we want to we want to make them good citizens so I think if we just stay focused a lot of that's out of our control but just know that what you're doing is appreciated and you are creating the next generation of people that we really need to be created in a great way to we need the next a thank you so much wow so fat and cleanup here I just want to Echo

042everything that they said but I cannot say it again because it would be unnecessary um I do want to about the budget I do want to um kind of Echo and uh accentuate what Mrs Turner G said which is um we need the public really to uh uh to let our Board of Supervisors know what it is that they value about the uh education system here the public school system um we don't have the ability of fun fing our own budget or it' be a toly different picture we have to go to the Board of Supervisors we have to request that they budget the money that we need and every year it's it's it's um you know kind of a shock and awe sort of thing even though at anyway anyway we they don't want

043to hear from us necessarily they hear from us all the time we're having a joint meeting in March about it um but your contact with your representative um actually not even just locally but especially local for us um but nationally and Statewide as well your voices are heard and do make an impact and you know whether you're a teacher whether you're a parent whether you're an somebody who's 17 about to vote you know those those your voices make a difference so I just want you to know that and to know that we uh really appreciate any kind of feedback you can give us for about what your priorities are and also uh to the Board of Supervisors to support this budget um because again we don't know we don't know um and then I also

044wanted to uh just this February is a very packed celebrating month right we've got school board appreciation month um Career and Technical Education Month uh I'm going to be reading something about love the bus month there's uh the clerks there's uh resource officers there's you know President's Day there's like whole bunch of stuff in February and what I'm going to say is that it's also Black History Month um I don't think we um do enough really we should be doing this all year round not just I mean it's good that February we can focus on it um and I would like to you know recognize and thank the black members of our community for all of their contributions to our community our schools our and our just our nation our world um black history is

045our history and um that's just what I want to say so um that's it uh I did go over a couple of the dates uh there's a huge long list I hate to kind of say what's happening in the schools because our student Representatives often do that and I don't want to say it before they get a chance to say it so um it's on there so if you guys want to look at that does anybody have any questions about important dates that are coming up Dr Hester would you like to emphasize anything I will not still I I feel like he's not going to emphasize the end of the third grading period I'm safe there um we do have that um coming up in March um feels like we barely had the third marking

046period to begin with um but we are moving forward um so um you know we've kind of breezed through February pretty quickly but we've got a lot coming up in March and and and this is the time of year where everything gets going and then the next thing you know it's the end of the school year it's graduation um everybody's getting excited so um we uh we just have a few things coming up and um I will let Isaiah share uh the information he wants to highlight when it's when it's his turn because now it's your turn yes comments from superintendent uh you want to do him first yeah okay comments from student Representatives um so for basketball senior night uh boys baset B cheerleader and pep prep band will be recognized in between the

047JB and vars games so hopefully we'll have the opportunity to play sometime soon if the weather clears up um girls basketball and cheer had their senior night last week so congratulations to them as they had Strong finish to their season uh a track had a me where many athletes had new PRS St callif out for States uh spring Sports uh spring sports are getting ready to start third Tri outs will be held on Monday uh February 24th at their school um the Shakespeare competition Anna winter 3rd at the English speaking Union Shakespeare competition at black fri Playhouse in stain Virginia so congratulations to her uh Val and the Valentine's Day fundraiser for FCCLA was a great turnout as well as the horiculture selling flowers and Miss night and their English trip students So Cupcakes so

048it was overall good turn thank you so much thank you all right now we go back to the superintendent comments from the super comments and then go into path yes yes all right so um I did want to emphasize we do have Newsies coming up and I'm was really happy to see that there's um rain dates uh listed there so um we've posted it on Facebook there's a QR code if you zap that QR code that's what takes you to be able to purchase tickets they do a great job of really kind of digitizing that and making it uh pretty easy um as Isaiah said we're coming to the end of our winter sports season so um each sport is kind of at a different phase so you have District and you have regions and

049you have States um all kind of coming um together all at once at possibly um the worst weather time which is always ironic with winter sports so um it always seems to be impacted by that um I also want to say um in connection to the weather um I want to say thank you to Les Campbell and Taylor Ashley um Shannon Iran as well um the four of us kind of make up that uh that that weather inclement weather team um you know Les and Taylor and I go out and drive the roads and and Miss Irvin Trust to kind of you know keep us um contained um and is you know helps craft messages and and kind of really evaluate all the information um and that's not easy because sometimes at 3:30 4 5:00

050in the morning at all different times um starting the night before starting several days before uh and so um I just appreciate getting the uh perspectives of all these different departments because we impact a lot of people when we make these decisions not just kids that stay at home but um you know uh the overall operations of an entire Division and there's a lot of components that are at stake at it so I just want to say thank you so much um you know we're text fiercly texting back and forth and someone says the roads are slick I don't know what that means um so tell me a little bit more and so uh we've gotten to where we uh understand each other and are able to communicate and have that trust and I really

051appreciate it so thank you um so uh those are my my comments and um Can someone load me up yep thank you all right so now to the fun uh part that I get to have you know we've been talking about budget so uh what I try to highlight every month are some of the things that are going on in our division that represent how we are spending our money and what we are doing with it and um all the great things that are taking place is Miss Irvin um so aptly uh summarized and and uh provided uh detail into our budget that's been something that you know when the governor puts the budget out we start furiously working on that um and then pay attention to it all the way through so a lot

052of time has been spent doing that but there are other things going on like following the bills that have been proposed and what's going through the house and thank you so much for coming out tonight um and the the Senate budgets that are developing and the different pieces of legislation that can potentially impact that locally and federally um also while processing getting our heading into tax season um and also uh working with maintenance and other departments for bids process um instruction is super busy it's been um a short month but a busy busy time CT e month career technology Education Month is being celebrated in February one of the um one of my favorite things to see happen is the advocacy that takes place when we take um CTE students down uh to Richmond to

053be able to participate um in the political sessions and and advocate for themselves uh so that's always a fun thing but also um you know highlighting some of the uh projects that we use for fundraising as you can see the bench there um instruction also participating in professional learning and trying to promote ways of um you know we participate in something called CIP which provides our curriculum um support in terms of data and just staying on top of that so we can bring that back to our kids um and on the right you know we really highlight um career Pathways and opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge to be employed uh and so uh you see the pictures on the right of our kids participating in like the UVA internships and just doing different

054things to prepare them for Life After High School uh whatever pathway they may choose um Human Resources this is the this is the recruiting and hiring season uh we are in the thick of it so um we have um Miss Cho and Miss Walker that go out along with other administrators to recruit all different areas and so that's been a big point of emphasis going to Bridgewater University of Virginia we're able to reach out to a local community member who has strong ties to Virginia State University um to be able to tap into some resources that maybe we haven't been able to and really expand that um to be able to um bring people back to Nelson um also um really be able to uh diversify um the individuals that we can to bring in

055and identify with our students um so that is a big um point of emphasis for February but also um talked a little bit about I teach so we talk about um being able to be creative um and expanding our opportunities to recruit um so miss Cho working in bringing in it teach is is one of those ways that we're trying to support that um also um staff uh Virginia licens your renewal manual um we transitioned from 5-year uh licenses to 10year licenses and it's amazing how quickly those 10 years can go by and all of a sudden you have to try to put in all your renewal documentation so those reminders are going out and um also uh attending um monthly meetings where they get to listen to um School Board attorneys and other uh

056lawyers across the state being able to to find um just their professional development and supporting things in a learning uh process there pupil Personnel um we had kind this week I think it was last week well it was two weeks ago but then we had to do it last week because of the weather um so a lot of extra um opportunities to celebrate that um we also had National School counseling week February 3rd through the 7th um and as I mentioned earlier um differen makers uh you see the pictures of Miss uh White and Mr Windgate um being presented those Awards also um I I really love this idea is having a sped help desk so it's an opportunity where uh individuals within the special education and purple and um student uh Services go into

057each building and spend the day there where anybody not just sped teachers but General Ed teachers staff members can go in and ask questions specific to um sped or how they can um work closely with their collaborative teachers or ask questions about timelines and IEPs and child finds and all of that and it's just it's um I think it's such a wonderful idea to be able to educate because I think sometimes you just don't know and when you don't know you fill that you fill your mind with what you think it should be and and getting the right answers I think is great and I feel feel like it's been um a a big plus for a lot of our staff um special education lead meeting coming up was in February uh so just continuing

058to to keep a finger on the pulse of all things sped um technology uh as we mentioned uh quite a few times in our budget presentation is um the ever increasing um cyber security emphasis and that is that is always taking place um and trying to bolster our cyber security um also Security in general um so the infusion of Technology with um safety protocols like through zero eyes and making sure that we have um compatible equipment to be able to do some of the things that we want to do um and bringing in copers and things that just on the daily basis of being able to do our operations is super important um also in the process the fiber replacement so continuing to work on that to upgrade um our capabilities to to provide this

05921st century um learning opportunities for our students um maintenance team um seems like it never ends um but uh maintenance team has worked um to change up parking lot lights sometimes you come in for our evening events and one of them's flickering um and it's just kind of trying to get to the point where we can replace all of those also working with honey well to address a few HVAC issues throughout the district um maintenance had to move uh food from one of our freezers at Tha River so a big thank you to Danny Johnson um once again coming in clutch to be able to help us move some food um using blue dogs freezer um we also had a pre-bid conference uh to work on phase two for our high school renovation um all

060the while trying to um navigate the installation of Chillers um which is uh always exciting and somehow another fitting in time to go look at roads and um you know provide the safety measures through that that angle um Mr Ashley and his uh transport T you know um what I really appreciate about Mr Ashley is and Everyone is always trying to think how how can we improve how can we make this better how can we get our information out there and um communicate U more clearly with everyone so they went and created a website and an internal website to be able to provide staff members an easier way to get information schedule things so I really appreciate um that forward thinking and and trying to make it just a better way to operate um we

061also um and he uh enabled the opportunity for candidates to pass their CD tests and and kind of bringing it closer to home so we have two more drivers who are now able um and are currently covering routes so we were able to train them and get so um Lita was it Guff Gita gof and Desiree Mullen so we want to say congratulations to them uh and then also thank you to all the substitute drivers that we have um I don't know if you know it but you know January and February was kind of the the creeping crud time period um and it's all-encompassing um yes um and um and is still goes on and and that's not just students and it's not just teachers it's bus drivers and these people are integral you know

062when we can't get our kids to school it's really difficult so uh really want to thank all those substitute drivers food nutrition um short months are always difficult because that's when they're they're um they're giving out the meals uh but they uh went um and participated um in um the supper and summer programs and being audited and reviewed so um came came through with that um also attended the the Blue Ridge Co-op meeting in preparation for the upcoming school year and being trained on on various uh procedures and different opportunities for meals as you see that lovely um meal prepped for them and then the middle picture you see Athena spry she was named School nutrition employee of the month for January 25 um so we want to say congratulations to miss Athena and then

063our numbers for January to February see them a little bit low because we didn't have as many days but yet still very impressive in terms of over 8,800 breakfast and uh 14, 598 lunches and 304 um After School meals because we've been providing after school tutoring and Remediation when we do that we provide the meals for those kids as well um if they want them um and somehow another uh able to continue our prioritization of of building Community engagement um with the Charlottesville Cardinals um it was a wonderful event to be able to to bring kids in um and inspiring lessons for students playing sports with disabilities and it was at Rockfish and it was just such a great time to be able to see that they've been doing it for a few years so

064we it's a it's a great experience um we also have developmental screenings that have taken place we had kindness week um the high school college and career day and that's also coupled with bringing in individuals from local businesses and organizations to try to talk about um available jobs and skills and knowledge necessar uh necessary to be able to enter into those jobs so making those connections not only to our students for a job but local community needs um uh and uh the middle school was running a ramen noodle Drive trying to be able to give back we also had SRO appreciation day it was Saturday Fe February 15th I can imagine what that would have been like during um the school day being showered with the uh appreciation that U what they bring uh to

065the schools we appreciate that um parks and wreck winter activities were celebrated um during a halftime of a boys varsity basketball game and it was really great um I believe it also coincided with when one of our players got their thousandth points so there was a lot of community there not only to celebrate the parks and W kids but also to celebrate that moment for um uh Colton yes Ward yes right yes okay um second and fourth grader students were had a visit from George Flickinger so I should have been over there picking his brain um while he was teaching our kids about um the weather and meteorology and um he posted one of the pictures where he was out front with his like big block of snow iced that had been pushed off to

066the side so I thought it was kind of ironic um but also um a great representation for the community coming out for Bingo night so we uh I just appreciate um all the schools efforts in trying to to not only promote themselves but also to engage and bring in the community um through Ty River um one of their squads we're also looking to reach out into our communities and have Community meetings with various uh members to try to to see how we can best support our students and expand that um and then uh love the bus month is February so we want to say um we love the bus and the transportation and everything that they provide and also we had school counselor week um so we put out some um Community messages about our

067counselors so we just want to say thank you very much any questions thank you all right thank you appreciate it I don't want to take my so much goodness gracious good going on um now we have comments we from the public is is there anybody on the list I'm guessing they no because they would stand up wouldn't all right no comments from the public and I um it's my idea so you guys can be mad at me but I want I don't want to release the public from the meeting to just go home until after um the uh superintendent has our chance to talk about all the stuff that happens in one month at the schools because I think that I mean it just blows me away about how much stuff goes on and usually

068she's at everything so but having said that if you guys want to go you can go now it's a good time to go if you're not going to go thanks for sticking around for the rest of it so we're at the consent agenda um does anybody have any questions about any of that um then I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda I make a motion we approve the consent agenda second all in favor I I so no opposed or abstains we have approved the consent agenda now we go into items for information the first being as normal the meeting minutes from January 9th meeting um if you have any changes modifications whatever just let our lovely clerk know so we can make changes uh second one is the request for resolution requesting

069the Board of Supervisors to issue General obligation bonds for school purposes do we need to talk about that do anybody I mean this I don't think so we don't okay all right so all right um then we will have from Mr Campbell an update on the capital Improvement plan projects okay so lots of things going on with the Renovations um I will start by talking about the um the final chillo that that has arrived um it it got delayed a couple couple times due to the weather so we it was delivered last Thursday with that said we didn't wait the best did not wait for the last um we've had some issues with that Chiller it's that's the end Chiller goes inside um it's a height issue as a matter of fact when they delivered

070it they took the tarp off I took a picture and I sent to Mandy and Shannon and I said this is the new Chiller but it's big uh it turns out it's too big they finally got it inside the first set of double doors they put it on the rollers when they tried to roll it back through the mechanical room to the back room it hit the duck work so um been talking to Honeywell of course there's a lot of this going on right now finger pointing um so reached out to uh first they said they they bided off the specs that Mosley provided um Mosley we reached out to them yesterday and this is what in an email they stated that uh what they provided was generic specs and that Mosley did not uh

071make selections or develop any coordination drawings Mosley also said that those efforts were on honeywill to coordinate and complete their TurnKey installation so I say all this so yesterday A A change order has been proposed not official yet um with they're bringing in a subcontractor they being honey Wells bringing in a subcontractor to U remove a duck work and the the door to the back room where this Chiller goes is too small too so they have to remove the Len the door frame and a course of center block so um the numbers were presented to me yesterday nothing official was a guesstimate change order in the amount of 15 to 20,000 ,000 to do the alterations to get this Chiller in would be paying so as of right now we haven't I I sent everything

072that I received from Mosley to honey well and I hadn't heard anything back yet that was as of the today this morning um Mosley has supplied us with some information with the script of how they they sent to um honey well to bid on um to to use as a generic spec um it again there was and then to top that all off Carrier sends out a representative this is a carrier Chiller they send out a rep to before they even start building the chiller to make sure that it all it goes where it's supposed to they even missed it so it's between in my opinion it's between Honeywell and carrier I agree and usually I mean I don't think I've ever seen one that didn't have it but there's usually language in all of

073these contracts that says the contractor shall feel verify all measurements yeah so um this is not honey Well's first rodeo either it's not likely it don't work there all the time yeah yeah so and and then so uh Mosley did provide some of that in a follow-up email of the the section of specs and it pretty much said close to what you just said so uh that is still in development stages right now and that was the first thing we did oh cing right now they're throwing out a number to try to get a negotiated so yeah so the first thing we did was to contact M and say they they're indicating they read you they read off what you gave us you need to you need to see what was given one way or

074another and they responded mostly responded very OT and you got to go through the dance and get to the end yeah we haven't got to the point where we're dancing yet it's just we've been sending emails this this point we haven't s on face to face to talk yet that that's coming but uh we we'll continue to Hash this out well thank you for staying on that absolutely um but the unit itself is correct it's just getting it where it needs to be yes so it's the well the unit the new unit is actually taller than the old unit so that's the that's the problem right but once it's in place is yes all that yes once just remember 50 years down the road you're going to have to pull it out again so right

075it's got to come back out yeah and I'd provided a few pictures as you can see where the unit it actually hits the duck work so they're planning on taking out that section of duck work um all they started cutting the door frame out um they haven't removed the Len yet they started doing that this week next Tuesday is the day that they're going to bring in the sheet metal guys to cut the duck orer and finish taking the block out the LEL out to to roll the chiller to the back to the back room so this one has been out of all the four chillers that we have replaced this one has has uh been a doozy this is one that was delayed so long too right it was y it's not done with

076you yet Le no it's not done it's it's it's still there just letting me know that um good news is some of the other stuff that's going on is the air compressors and CTE Wing has been installed and they're operational um the four gym units that were replaced at the high school are now they've been crossed over so they're now on the front end system um tied all tied into the ebi system um and huny will has also finished installing the new circulating pumps that also go with that water cooled Chiller there's a picture there they've done a neat job on that uh the renovation we had um we had a as Mandy said we had a pre uh pre-bid conference um on February the 3rd there was four total contractors I'd like to seen

077a few more um but we've had numerous follow-up meetings since then because the bids are due uh next Tuesday at 2:00 so we've had numerous follow-up walks with them um the other day actually there was more folks that showed up for a follow-up walk than originally showed up for the prebid subcontractors so um it does seem like all the ones that showed up seem to be interested in it so that's a good thing and then the um High School Mo the elevator modernization that is finally starting to take place um they're coming out next week we're doing a site visit we're going to look at every all of the aspects of it he had originally given me a schedule of late April early may I reached back out today and sent an email just my

078concerns about doing that during while school is still a session I don't think we need to take the elevator down during that period of time so I I recommended we waited till the end of May I hadn't heard anything back prior to the meeting so um hopefully I'll hear something back and we can push that out till least after school's out so and this is going to be new car and new controls so new controls um you basically see the same cart but it's it's upgrade on the um on the Hydraulics and the controls as a matter of fact we have to put a new disconnect inside it's got to have a battery power down feature for the new carts uh we have nothing like that now right um and we also had to install

079a um a small mini split in that area because it had to have a designated its own designated HVAC so we've got all that we've got the Min split in place I'm going I'm trying to get the um disconnect installed during phase two of the renovation so y it's a good call to get that pushed out do we know if we have anybody from an ada standpoint that has to use that elevator daily cuz that's that's a game changer they can't do it right yeah and and the point is even if we don't right now we will we have we might yeah that's right so yeah so that's the roof leak in the roof where the air conditioner has that been yes so we we've we've done we went up and done a lot of

080sealing and uh around the unit itself uh cut up some old caulking put some new caon in and um this last uh round of rain we had which was a couple inches uh we had no issues so okay I'm knock it up wood we did unfortunately have a uh an incident that happened a couple weeks ago honey well was installed on a motor in one of our units on the gym unit and they dropped the motor and it put a hole in the roof so uh oh my god well is bat in a th000 they uh they're paying for that um I we called Escola out the grof and company that did the project they patched it and I told them they could just make the bill out to honey well now did we wind

081up having to talk the units ourselves deflation on the units I thought that was in the contract of what the roof so they they took it up to the point to the unit and then they they said that the unit was not on them okay so we we took it upon ourselves to go up and but the uh now the a rep the GM rep come out he he he was a big help um he come out and he actually took a garden hose and sprayed the unit down to help us locate the areas okay so it wasn't Escola it was Garland Manu manufacturers that they rep out okay and he actually helped us locate those so Carin was a good partner through that process I think so they were beginning were not sure cuz

082nobody really worked with them but they've been a good part they Brian has been a good rep to us and they said they would be with us before during and after so they they stand by absolutely any other questions thank you okay um Miss ruer is not R here I will be taking um her information give me a second TR again all right so um you try it again no I don't need do I say it to her every day I mean every time I see her to make sure I don't do it wrong um so I'm not going to go step by step through this presentation um other than to um we've talked about the support of Behavioral um interventions in particular we um currently have one of our current um psychologists out um

083on leave um uh maternity leave and so um we have a part-time psychologist who um works with us but we are in need of another full-time so um as I mentioned before there's difficulty in finding these individuals to be able to um provide those services for our students um this is just a little bit of kind of um data that supports why we're in need of a full-time um but uh we have um posted vacancies for the school psychologist um we've had consultations with local universities to try to find individuals to fill this spot um surrounding divisions I mean we are kind of coming around to try to find individuals to be able to do this um and it's just um it's a it's a a very um shallow well to dip into um because

084everybody's trying to but you can't just get anybody for a position like this and so um we have to either get individuals or contract through um organizations that support certain expectations and requirements that we have confidentiality is one of our biggest ones but also the ability to get that data maintain that validity of evaluation results um the impact you have to choose the right connections and the impact that they have on our students um the requirements on ncps staff to support the implementation of evaluations and we're heading into a season where we start to see all those increase um and so uh the results of the RFP it we wanton if we can find individuals to do this but two what are the price points for it um so um we we like I said

085we currently have a school psychologist contracted through prep um pedmont Regional um education program so we we work through them to be able to find that uh we place an RFP and a panel interviewed um really uh time intensive to be able to interview individuals um but um we would like to propose going with parallel learning um one uh they kind of Hit the the uh Mark with um our expectations requirements and criteria but also we were able to negotiate um an agreement um and get a mid-range price point at um 1250 down from 10,000 so we were able Define um this group to be able to provide that we have an ability to add more evaluations if needed to be able to do this so parallel learning has access to the various rating scales

086checklists and protocols that we use um and they have the ability to provide a psychologist when ncps requires that service it will be virtual though um to find the physical beings to bring in to Nelson County is just so difficult particularly with our with our ability to to hit that price point um but this is a group that I think we feel like um is going to be able to commit to you know eight psychological evaluations and with the um flexibility toest add more to that um so this is something that we're educating you and providing information on about uh a direction that we would like to go in um it it's just difficult it's difficult to find the actual people to be able to do this but it's a need that our students have

087um so with a lack of actual someone being able to come in this is the next best step it's a step that um the state is really trying to encourage people taking with um a vacuum of individuals and all of these BS are virtual um many of them not maybe not all I mean all the ones on this list yes okay um so I think these are the things that they have to offer um I think if we could have a a full-time person in our buildings constantly that'd be fantastic um our our fantastic psychologist is just on leave right now so this is also our temporary fix to that well it's good that you found something surpris that there were three options actually so instead of just like one options so yes all right

088and how long did I miss the part for how long the contract will be if we get in and feel like this is not working so I I think it's throughout the end of the school year correct it's it's it's sem it's a it's a stop gap for while we have our current psychologist on leave okay correct I'm saying that yes okay yes this is not a permanent fix although let's be honest if things you never know you never know the direction so this is also a great um kind of introduction and in potential relationship um if we need additional services that go beyond what we can do so I'm trying to get my head wrapped around all of these things they do comprehensive assessments they're providing Services two days a week that says under

089the contract right I think with the virtual virtual virtual current virtual yes right right okay um so but they can do intervention if they can do I believe they can do more services um upon need I think we have to kind of communicate with them but they're not coming into the building no I understand but I mean they would have somebody available if we they have some flexibility servic whatever and again we also have a part-time person that does come in so we have that individual which would probably be more readily to have that access to them okay just trying to get my mhm bearings thank you okay thank you now we have the calendar okay you need different hats I me so every time you come up with I do I do all right

090so it's that time of year again it's the instructional calendar um we uh I think it was in the last Schoolboard meeting Miss Douglas was able to kind of just indicate um had been uh sent out or made available surveys um the process I want to press pause before we dig into um the uh survey that got the most votes um because one of the confusing things about when you build an instructional calendar um one of the things we get is like you know what about my vacations this is an instructional calendar so how do we build that one we take into considerations and criteria that that are contributed to us and prioritized but also um the the state has certain requirements on time so you can either have 180 days or 990 hours we

091target the hours so what constitutes these hours you build it off of the school day that is the shortest that is our Elementary schedule it is 6 and a half hours the school day is actually 7 but you can't count lunch so we build it off a 6 and a half fun fact not all School divisions or schools have the same length of day same calendar um timing wise or same number of days so sometimes we hear well you know this School Division has to add time to the school year or this division why do they have these days off why don't we have those days off and so um that that is a unique nature because when you build your schedule you build it to the needs and wants of your school division um

092and so um this past school year we had um we had planned for 107 76 days so that was going to be 1144 hours so um we've had um a few closures um a few remote learning but we have a long day and one of the reasons why we have a long day is yes we have transportation um we have a single run um where our Elementary in our middle and our high school are on the same buses um and so you have to adjust those that day to meet each other but we also live in an area that is pretty precarious when it comes to the weather um and a lot of needs that we have to kind of navigate to be able to build in time for and then the accountability system making

093sure that we are providing the um instruction and the support and the services to our students that we feel is necessary in order to try to be as successful as we can possibly be and I say all that just sometimes um it's it's not as simple as we'll just you know put the days in and let's go um but we we do build it off of um this because usually when we present the calendar there's always someone furiously um mathing um to see how many hours and how many days and and what is Ade equate um so I always just try to say hey this is what we build it off of and so when we have remote uh we have closed days or we have remote learning days FYI right now we still are

094um well above the 990 hours um even with these closures the way we built our calendar the way we've built things um we're still well above um so uh I've spoken to other super tenants are adding time to the day because they're not at they won't be at 990 so it's just um it's a very interesting situation so I say all that to say we've been working towards building our instructional calendar um and we've had staff calendar survey community calendar survey student survey um all that to help draft out we had four options I'm not going to go through all four of our options because there was a distinct popular one and um you have access to the four options but um draft number one was and that's what you see projected there was um

095the clear winner uh in terms of selections and I say clear winner I think it was it like 46% and the next closest was 27 um so pretty clear winner um and uh some of the things that uh went into play when people were selecting their choice was the beginning and end dates um for students um also staff uh take that into account instructional planning days planned um synchronous learning dates and then just some other things that go into it one of the questions that we posed this year is the consideration of a transition day so we don't have it necessarily completely reflected in that calendar we have on selection one August um 12th as the start day which is a Tuesday um feedback that we've been provided by parents and staff is please don't

096start on that Monday um but we don't want to start the week before and we going to get out before winter break and we want to have our school year finished before Memorial Day um and we want um two weeks at winter break and we want a week at Spring break but that little tail or head of that extra day for um Easter or you know the Friday before we want that also um and we want these holidays and we like these asynchronous days that we got to taste of so I say all that to say that it takes a little bit of of massaging to be able to make all of this work um and the fun part about this is where the holiday falls can really create bigger challenges last year easy 88

09788 no problems everything fits um this year just kind of where things lie it makes it a little bit more challenging to get in everybody's selections one of the other um things feedback that we get is is the timing of um you know we have a teacher work day the Monday before report cards go out in the in the Monday after the of a marking period because that's when teachers are able to make sure that they get everything done and ready to close out that um that um grading period and then get ready for the report cards and get ready to start that next so that time well you know there's certain amount of days that we have in our marking period so that there's not tons of flexibility with that um but we also

098want these asynchronous days but we also have parent teacher conferences that we're trying to um coordinate because it's really difficult to have those long nights when we had kids all day um so I said all this to say that a lot of thought and planning goes into this um and see what you see here is you see a August 12th start date I started to talk about a transition day which is a really interesting concept where there's that first day um where you bring in your prek and your kindergarteners at the elementary level and you get the layout of the land of how things work and you're really able to introduce the the young ones and to the teachers and get them familiar with everything and the parents kind of feel a little bit better

099but you also have that for your sixth graders they're starting in a new school at the middle school um they get the layout of the building if you ask kids what at the middle and the high school one of their biggest fears is it's getting lost it isn't how hard the class is it isn't um what time is lunch it's I don't want to get lost um and so these opportunities for the prek andk 6th and 9th would give them an opportunity to get in there a day ahead of time get the layout of everything get the uh the rules you know the expectation um uh meetings and you know find sometimes a trusted adult right away to be able to to be able to work with um so that is something that we're kind

100of putting out there is is it had a um it had a pretty good response but I think it's the implementation of it um and how that works I know that I've spoken to um people in some other school divisions and and may have been leery at first but having seen it um play out they really like how it works um but I I get back we have a start date of August 12th um we have um the first marking period ending on um the uh the 10th of October and currently have an asynchronous day on the 13th and um uh professional development on the 20th um we kind of get mixed feedback about having um um a teacher work day and professional development day back to back so it shortens that week we have

101some people who like that and some others like no I'd rather not have it back toback so unfortunately sometimes um when you have to make decisions someone that someone's Choice isn't always going to be there but we do the best we can to kind of bring it together um November um we we still have the fourth off um but due to the timing wise and making sure we get enough days in the first and second semester the reason why that's important is balancing out for the high school they're on a 4x4 so their their class ends in that first semester so we really want to make sure that we even it out as best we can um because it it really gets um difficult to manage when it's not not close um election day on

102the 4th uh because where everything falls and getting those extra days and starting later in August not really um able to give that third the um November 3rd off um that's just how things fall when you start um in that midweek in August there's going to be a give and take a little bit um we have again the three days built in for Thanksgiving um we have the two weeks built in for winter break um also providing instructional planning and professional development coming out so that means it's a um it's not a full week for uh teachers or students with kids coming out of winter break which is always something that's passed along as a want uh we have um ml MLK Day on the 19th we have President's Day on the the 16th of

103February um we have uh again async day um so this calendar we're only planning to have two async days not three just again if we start later in August we're just not able to build some of those things in um but we're trying to to kind of build in more time um in other places uh we have uh spring break falling um one of the questions we asked you want it before after Easter um the the uh resounding information that we got back let's have it um the 6th through the 10th time frame um and then uh having graduation set for the 15th the last day of school set for the 22nd um so that brings us to 87 and 88 that'd be 175 days are uh people who want to do some math 175

104time 6 and a half is is 11375 hours um so again that builds in uh we were at 11:44 11:37 that's one day difference that builds in quite a bit of time and flexibility um to to be able to work with and be able to provide uh the support we need so I hope that adequately explains um the kind of the process it's complicated um unfortunately someone's feelings gets hurt uh um because we can't always accommodate every single thing um but we do the best we can with taking all the information into account so we want to present that with the hopes of of moving forward with the calendar I believe next um that's our first reading of it and we need it next march correct March approval I'm looking at you yes that's that's

105that's the plan any questions that we didn't have to yes yes all right any questions let's keep on going all right so the last thing and items for information is the proclamation for love the bus month 2025 whereas can I interrup you want to interrupt can can we have Mr Ashley oh yeah are you kidding me come on he is excited about it asking about all day long when do I get to do this I saw the daggers flying out of his eyes toward you thanks I app really act to follow after the whole calendar really it is but we're gonna make this short and sweet so the National Association for people transportation is an organization that obviously supports school buses um so they've developed um or kind of spearheaded this movement of uh declaring

106February being love the bus month um I know last year we signed the proclamation so basically we're going to ask again if we can Nels County Public Schools will designate February uh love the bus month so um as the proclamation reads whereas the yellow school bus or do you want me to read it or would you all like to because I'm fine if you wanted to I don't want to take your I you have a spook I can tell so here whereas the yellow school bus is among the most recognized icons of American schools and society and whereas school buses make up the largest mass transit system in the United States and whereas research demonstrates that the yellow school bus is the safest mode of transportation for some 26 million American school children each day

107and whereas yellow school buses are built to exacting federal and state safety specifications and school bus drivers are provided rigorous training preparation and testing to ensure the safety of our children and whereas the yellow school bus provides access to education and learning for children who live in rural suburban and urban areas including children Who present with special needs and whereas the yellow school bus enhances the educational experience by providing access to extracurricular activities such as field trips and sporting events and whereas the yellow school bus contributes to improving our environment by reducing the number of vehicles that must be on the road to get our children to school each day and whereas the women and men who manage and operate local school transportation systems are dedicated to the safety of all children and the and

108to ensure efficiency and accountability in the delivery of school transportation services now there now therefore be it resolved that the Nelson County School Board recognize the vital role uh that the yellow school bus plays in our education Enterprise and in the life of our district and be it further resolved that the Nelson County School Board declares the month of February 2025 to be love the bus month in Nelson County Public Schools and we call upon our students our families our faculty and staff and our community to recognize the work that our school transportation team and all that they contribute to the well-being of our students it would have made me cry to read that so I'm glad you did it okay now items for Action who's got their motions ready everybody ready first we need

109a motion to approve the resolution to request the Nelson County School Board issue General General obligation bonds for school purposes I move that we approve the uh resolution to request Nelson County School Board issue General obligation bonds for school purposes I'll second all in favor any opposed or abstain um now we need to have an a motion to approve the bid for temporary Psychological Services and I did get clarification that it is uh a significant amount to to help us with our testing also so I think you asked a question is like okay what all it is will be a super support to us getting the evaluations and testing done so I wanted to make sure I appropriately um provided that information so I also kind of want to point out if there's one of

110these um items for Action that we need to have a roll call vote on for documentation let me know because I mean so far it's been unanimous but you know I mean everybody's voting I but just in case we just need to make sure we do what we supposed to do all right okay so I need a motion for B I'll make a motion to approve the recommended parallel learning as the vendor to provide temporary Psychological Services to Nelson County Public Schools second all in favor I any opposed or abstained okay now we need a uh a motion to approve the overnight field trip for Nelson Middle School Nelson High School FFA to attend State block and Bridal contest which and I do think that was just recently postponed oh was it March 15th and

11116th okay so you want to approve it now and change the dates we need to amend the dates yeah I move that we approve the overnight field trip for FFA to 10 State block and Bridal March 15th to the 16th and the 16th so all in favor I I no opposition or abstention um okay the next one is the motion to approve the field trip for gifted students to visit the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center and whel watching Charter on April 2nd I move we approve the field trip for gifted students to visit the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center and whale watching Center on April 2nd 2025 second all in favor I no opposition or abstention um we need an motion to approve the out of state field trip for gifted students on

112March 28th to Washington DC I'll make a motion to approve the out of state field trip for gifted students on March 28 2025 to Washington DC second all in favor I I no opposition or exstension uh we need a we need a uh motion to approve the middle school high school FCCLA overnight field trip to Virginia Beach for State FCCLA conference on April the 3D through the 6 I move we approve uh the Nelson Middle School Nelson High School FCCLA to take an overnight field trip to Virginia Beach for the state FCCLA conference on April 3rd and through the 16th 25 I'll second all in favor any opposition or exstension hearing none good and so do we need to go to close session uh personel um can I are you looking for it it's on

113here it's on here no it's not it isn't no give me a second to get the Motions bet it's meeting let me look it up I got it okay we need to go in for personnel yeah I'm moved that the board go into close session to discuss and consider the Personnel report and other confidential Personnel matters as authorized by Virginia code 2.2 D 37aa 3711 A1 for purposes of discussion or consideration of prospective candidates for employment assignment appointment promotion performance demotion salaries disciplining or resignation of specific public bodies appointees or employees of any public body a second all in favor I we're in close thank you everybody app [Music]