School Board Work Session: 12-3-25

001Good afternoon everyone and uh thank you uh Mr. Calero. Uh it's my honor to welcome everybody here on this special occasion, the ceremonial swearing in of our newest Norbert public schools board member, Miss Jodie Slaughter. I'll say beforehand, she did pressure me to make sure I said nice things about her, so I did alter the speech before coming up here. Uh but this afternoon, not only do we recognize Miss Lauder's commitment to serve, but we also celebrate the community that stands with her, her friends, family, and supporters. We thank them for their continued support. Their support reflects the encouragement, love, and strength that make public service possible. We are grateful to share this moment with everyone. Becoming a school board member is both a privilege and a profound responsibility. It means stepping into a role

002where every decision touches the lives of children and shapes the future of an entire community. It means balancing high expectations with compassion, listening deeply to the voices of families and educators, and keeping students at the center of every conversation and every decision. Miss Slaughter embraces that responsibility with a dedication to our students and a belief in the promise of public education. Her leadership, her perspective, and her passion for educational excellence will strengthen the board and support our mission to ensure that every student in Norfick public schools thrives. On behalf of the entire school division, I extend my sincere appreciation to Miss Slaughter for stepping forward to serve and to our school board for its continued commitment to advancing the success of our schools. This ceremony marks an important milestone and we are proud to share

003it with all of you that are here today and anybody online. Miss Slaughter, we look forward to working alongside you as we shape the next chapter for our students and our community. And thank you all for being here to commemorate this moment. Thank you. And now, Mr. Calette, will you please join me at the podium? This is to certify that a me at a meeting of the electoral board of the city of Norfol held in the circuit court and upon examination of the official records deposited therein, it was ascertained and determined that at the election held on November 4th, 2025, Jodie M. Slaughter Slaughter was duly elected member school board war II in the city of Norphick for the term prescribed by law. >> Here you go. >> Thank you. >> Now, Mr. Schaefer, Mr.

004George Schaefer, clerk of the Norfick City Court, will come up and have them come up. Raise your hand. Okay. All right. Repeat after me. I do solemnly swear or affirm >> I do solemnly swear or affirm >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia >> and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia >> and that I will faithfully and impartially >> and and that I will faithfully and impartially >> discharge and perform >> all the duties incumbent upon me >> all of the duties incumbent upon me >> as a school board member >> of the school board of the city of Norfol >> of the school board of the city of Norfolk

005>> for a term beginning >> November 17th, 2025 >> and expiring as soon after >> the December 31, 2026 >> special election >> as a newly elected candidate >> as the newly The elected candidate >> may be sworn in >> according to the best of my ability. >> So help me God. on the payroll. >> You're not going anywhere just yet. At this time, Miss Slaughter, you're welcome to share some remarks. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. Um I'm short. Um, so fellow schoolboard members, >> this little button on the side that says down, >> I know it very well. Thank you. Um, fellow schoolboard members, my family who are watching um, online, friends and supporter supporters of Norfick public schools. Words cannot convey how honored I am to step into the role of an

006advocate for the city scholars for this city scholars. I am here today because a core group of people believed I would hold true to that advocacy. And so I begin this journey with gratitude and humility for Councilman Carlos Clanton who taught me what equality campaign should look like as well as the many people who knocked on doors on my behalf, manned voting precincts, and helped fund my campaign. You and the voters you convinced I was worthy of their confidence are the reason why I stand before you today. Let's be real. Election campaigns by its nature is very adversarial. Adversarial. There were those along the campaign trail who depicted my profession inaccurately. They called me a developer and an investor when in reality I am a mental health professional. I take pride in all of the

007families and children I have served over the years. So, it's no surprise I initially bristled at the portrayal, but I thought about it. There is some truth to the depiction. I am a developer. I believe in doing whatever it takes to develop the profound potential of the scholars who walk through our school doors each and every day. I look forward to supporting the teachers and staff who work so diligently to ensure student success and well-being. I am an investor in Norfick City Public Schools. I am ready to invest a great deal of time and effort, my skills and my service. I purpose to have the humility to learn this job from the bottom up, the strength to do it with passionate commitment. I will conclude with two priorities. First, I will act in the framework

008of the longheld that this community is an allimportant partner in the mission to uplift children. And second, everything I do as a schoolboard member will be guided by one prevailing question. Is this action in the best interest and of all of our scholars? Thank you for your belief in me now and the support you will lend me in the future. Thank you all for joining us today. Please enjoy the reception in the hallway. U and we will commence our work session at 4 pm. Thank you. Good afternoon. I call to order the school board work session. Miss Tanner, please call the role. >> The scene >> here. >> Buffalo, >> here. >> Martin, >> present. >> Fson >> here. >> Slaughter >> present. Thomas >> here. >> Algerro >> here. >> Our first agenda item

0093.01 is the Virginia Literary Literacy Act, Mr. Brady. >> And actually, I'm I'm going to change that to our two outstanding uh uh language arts and English coordinators, Miss Nash, our elementary senior coordinator for English language arts, and our secondary coordinator, uh Mr. Clark. >> Okay, great. >> Jump right in. All right. Hey, can you hear me? Okay. Okay. Good afternoon, Madame Chair D. Caligger, Vice Chair, Miss Thomas, schoolboard members, and Dr. Po. I'm Lisa Nash, the senior coordinator of elementary English and language arts, and I'm joined today by Mr. Jeremy Clark, a senior coordinator of secondary English, and we thank you for the opportunity to share an update on the Virginia Literacy Act. commonly known as the VA and and its impact on literacy in NPS uh North public schools. We recognize that several

010members of the board are new. So, we will begin with a brief refresher on what the Virginia Literacy Act is, why it exists, and it the major responsibilities that it places on divisions across the the Commonwealth. Then we'll move into a deeper look at how MPS is implementing the required components with particular focus on align intervention and student reading plans. We will conclude with time for questions and discussion. So every good lesson begins with a anticipatory set, right? So we're going to before we get into our presentation, we're going to start with a little warmup to test your word knowledge skills. >> Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. On the screen is a list of four words. I want you to take a moment and read each word out loud. We'll do it together though, not

011independently. Okay. So, number one, what word is that? >> Good job. How about number two? >> Very nice. Number three, >> all right. And number four. >> Very good. Good job sounding those words out. The three of these words are actually nonsense words. Um, and they are taken from the middle school vowels assessment and one is a real English word. I'm going to ask you to hold up a finger to tell me which word is the real word. You're going to show me a one, two, three, or four. Get it in your mind. Ready? One, two, three. Show me. You guys are smart. Did y'all study the slides ahead of time? Look it up. No. Good job. The real word is renel. The others are nonsense words. Our students engage in the same kind of

012task, reading a list of unfamiliar, madeup words. They cannot rely on memorized site words or guesswork. They must apply phonics and decoding skills. The nonsense word portion or pseudo word decoding uh it's also known as of the vowels gives teachers and reading specialists precise information about whether students can transfer foundational skills to unfamiliar words which is a strong predictor of later reading comprehension. Just to clarify uh students are not asked to identify which word is real like we did with you. We just are using this example to simply demonstrate the type of decoding task included on the vow's assessment and to highlight Virginia's strength focused on foundational literacy skills, including expanded uh expectations for decoding multi-elabic words, applying morphology, and maintaining fluency well into upper elementary and the middle school grades. You guys did a

013great job on that. All right. So, that warm-up illustrated the foundational skills that the VA is designed to strengthen. So, what is the VALA? Unanimously passed in 2022, the VLA is legislation that responds directly to a statewide literacy crisis. One in three K through2 students in Virginia are read reading below benchmark and many students in grades three through eight are not passing the reading SL. The VLA is a statewide commitment to improving early literacy outcomes. It ensures that all of our K through five students receive evidence-based core instruction and that students who do not meet benchmark receive targeted intervention which is documented in a student reading plan. Families are partners in supporting reading development. It ensures that teachers and reading specialists receive required training grounded in the science of reading and it ensures that divisions

014use approved curriculum, approved screeners and aligned intervention methods. In short, the VA establishes a consistent statewide foundation for high quality literacy instruction, and it ensures early identification and immediate support and promotes equitable evidence-based instruction across all divisions. Implementation of the VA began last year during the 2024 25 school year. For Northfor public schools, the VLA strengthens the work that we already had underway in literacy and ensures that our practices are consistent across the division and grounded in what we know works for students. The VA requires that we provide instruction aligned to the science of reading, that we use evidence-based practices consistently across all of our schools, and that we implement the instructional shifts that are outlined in the 2024 English standards of learning, which place a greater emphasis on foundational skills and regular engagement with

015complex grade level tasks. It requires that we maintain ongoing professional learning for our teachers and reading specialists, that we partner closely with our families through those student reading plans, and that we align our curriculum, screening tools, and our intervention methods. Together, these components create a coherent system of instruction and support. And the VA ensures that these shifts become a consistent experience for every student. And our work in NPS reflects that alignment. A key component of the Virginia Literacy Act is the requirement that any student in kindergarten through uh grade 8 who demonstrates substantial reading deficiencies must receive intervention services. This is not optional. It's guaranteed support for every student who needs it. These intervention services must be evidence-based, datadriven, and targeted to the specific needs of the student and the skills that they have not

016yet mastered. In NPS, our reading specialists coordinate this work. They monitor progress. They develop and oversee student reading plans and they collaborate with teachers, families, and families to support and ensure that the students receive timely, aligned, and effective support. This next slide outlines the intervention cycle that guides our work under the Virginia Literacy Act. It shows how we identify students who need support and how we ensure they receive instruction that matches those needs. The cycle begins with administering the vows screener, moves into analyzing the results, developing student reading plans with their families, implementing evidence-based interventions, and then monitoring progress and adjusting instruction as needed. You'll see this framework reflected in the slides that follow as we walk through each step a little more closely. This is how MPS puts the VLA requirements into daily practice

017for our students. So to identify students who need additional support, the VA requires the use of a state state approved literacy screener. In Virginia, that tool is the vowels assessment or the Virginia language literacy screening system. NPS administers vows to all kindergarten through grade 2 students, selected grade three students who show risk factors, and all students in grades four through eight who did not pass the reading. So, this gives us early reliable uh data on foundational reading skills and helps us to act quickly when a student shows a sign of difficulty. Now, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Clark to walk us through the next step. >> Thank you. Good afternoon. And I echo uh Lisa's sentiments regarding our appreciation for the opportunity to speak with you today. She shar shared background on

018the VA and the vow screener. So, now we're going to take a closer look at what the the assessment actually measures and how those results guide instruction for students in grades one through three. Oops, here we go. The Bows assessment includes subtests that focus on the foundational skills that we know are essential for early reading success. These include phmic awareness, phonics and decoding, word recognition, oral reading fluency, and basic comprehension. Each of these subtests allow us to pinpoint exactly where a student is progressing and where additional instruction might be needed. When results are shared with reading specialists, classroom teachers, and parents, they provide a clear picture of whether the student is developing the underlying skills necessary for strong reading development. This structured breakdown rather than a single overall score helps schools make timely, targeted decisions

019about intervention and instruction. For students in grades four through eight, the vows assessment shifts to the skills required for more advanced reading. These subtests include spelling, word reading, oral reading fluency, morphology, and text comprehension. As students move from learning to read to reading to learn, these components help us determine whether they can access grade level grade level content across subject areas. Just as with the early grades, results are reported in a way that allows educators and families to clearly see both strengths and areas for growth. The reporting structure highlights which skills are on track, which are developing, and which require intervention. This allows reading specialists to use the reports to tailor interventions, teachers to differentiate instruction in whole and small groupoup settings, and families to support reading and literacy at home. in the folder we

020provided and I see some of you have already opened those those up. Uh you will find a copy of these two sample reports. Please take a moment to find those if you haven't already using the think pair share strategy often used to facilitate facilitate discussion in our classrooms and of course designating whether you're going to be student A or B. We're going to briefly walk through that that engagement protocol to analyze a data report. Please take a moment with your shoulder partner very quickly. You're going to be student A or B. Okay. During the think portion, you are going to review the sample student A or B report and we are asking you to think about the following questions. What skills appear to be the students relative strengths? What growth opportunities do you see? And

021what is the most urgent priority need that should guide intervention? Moment to do the think part on your own. >> A on the front, B on the back. >> Oh, yeah. Okay. I got it. >> I'm sorry. I should have been more explicit. >> What does A look like? >> Yeah. >> Um, they're good at alphabet. >> Yep. So, student A is on the front, student B on the back. In the three questions for the very brief initial reflection, please consider what skills >> are might be the student's relative strengths, where are the growth opportunities, and what do you think that student's uh priority need might be? Give you a moment to consider, >> Mr. Kelly. And I don't know if it's like >> for student A. >> I don't know if >> when it

022has oral reading fluency passage one, it says eight and then NA. Does it mean that coordinate and it does it matter or does what does that mean? >> I'm sorry. What >> I was just I wanted to give you a moment to >> experience how a parent might feel and and we're getting it right and and we've got some notions about that. um and what the reading specialists and teachers do to analyze this data. I just want to give you a moment to kind of get that. I'm going to walk you through what it says. Trust me. Yeah. Because that's um how many words per >> Okay. >> Yeah, I got you. comprehension. >> Yeah. >> And so do you score all the numbers up to come up with >> they do get a scaled

023score >> and that scale score shifts each window that the vowels is administered but over time you should see >> I should already been >> report will designate where the scale score falls in within the bands of >> you would add these up and then you would scale it. See what else? >> A psychometrician >> behind the scene. It's really not totally putting it together. >> Putting it together, >> but for this report, you can see that letter sounds they've done very well. >> Exactly. >> That was admittedly brief. >> One more moment to >> put a pin in that conversation. >> Yeah. I think a lot of anything but do you understand >> things have like a >> I see how I experienced that as a parent still not great >> all right in

024the interest of time we'll come together >> question this is what parents receive so so so I'm always looking for how all the numbers move together. Thank you. >> I want to highlight what both students data begins to show us. First, both students do in fact demonstrate deficits in the foundational skill sets of spelling and word reading. These are essential building blocks for fluent and accurate reading. So, identifying these gaps early is critical. This is in fact the answer to the third question I posed to you. What is the most urgent need that should guide intervention? It makes sense to focus on the intervention on it makes sense to focus intervention on the lowest flag skill set since those are the skills upon which others are built. While these sample reports indicate specific deficits, the

025data also reveal some relative bright spots that help us better understand each student. For instance, student A shows a firm grasp of letter recognition and letter sound knowledge, which tells us the student has a solid foundation in early phmic awareness. Student A also performed a little better when reading real words as compared to the nonsense words or the pseudo words suggesting that familiarity with vocabulary is supporting some decoding. This is also true for student uh B. student B performed a little better on the second uh fluency passage when compared to the first one. This may indicate increasing comfort with that particular text because one is fiction, one is non-fiction and perhaps some growing confidence as the assessment progressed. Now, that was admittedly brief for the sake of time, but that is a a little a

026hint at the process that reading specialists and teachers go through um as the vows data is reviewed. You want me to pause for a quick question? Yes, ma'am. >> A quick question. And this might this once we have the VA in place for a couple a few years now. So, one of the things that Miss Ash and I um were just talking about that student A in first grade, you know, they have those foundational deficits. And then if you were to look back at at this, you know, over how they're doing each year, and so now they're in grade four and they're still having issues in those foundational deficits. Then how does as the educator of the school system go back and then look at these reports over time and say, "Okay, well, what interventions

027took place and how well did they work or not work?" you know, so how does that fit into this um plan? I guess the >> one thing you'll notice on the report that um gohead >> um high risk history is noted. So that tells you we're looking at student a two out of six reporting windows this student has been identified. >> Okay, so that's >> so that is a a flag to to look at and on the other one we see four out of 11. So you can go back to look at obviously we don't we don't have fouls but it also indicates risk. So it was cow's assessments as well. So if they have lots of times where they have been identified then we want to dig deeper and do >> a data dive

028treasure hunt figure out what's been going on realign our interventions. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> And I can before I move on I can give you just a very concrete example of of that. So, um, SIPS is typically an elementary, very early foundational, uh, you know, intervention program. You know, we're looking at opportunities to put that in place. And in fact, at several of our middle schools, it's up and running. And so, to to that point of, okay, those things aren't working, so what are we doing? And so what that's just one concrete example of a a team at a school kind of doing a pivot and putting something in place to hopefully quicken the the uh the development of of some of our most vulnerable students. >> Mark, I I just add to that

029as well the reading plans. So this is our second year for reading plans for our early grade students. Our first year for students in grades four through eight. So those reading plans will also follow the child. So that also helps with that data tracking and identification along the way, which is a a newer concept uh as well. So that that's helping solidify that the needs as it goes. So hopefully as we go along and see this grade one student by the time they get to grade four, these deficits will be gone because the focus is deeper in those areas. >> Thank you. That's specifically. >> Thank you, sir. All right. So, now that you've had a brief moment to review a sample uh vows report, let's look at how these results translate into that student

030reading plan. Great segue, Dr. Paul. Each component is directly shaped by the vows data and ensures targeted individualized support for the student. As I provide an overview of each section of the reading plan with examples based on one of our sample uh vow students, you may want to reference the division overview and the 48 student reading plan guidance documents that we included in your folder. We begin by identifying the students specific reading skill deficits based on the vowed subtest results similar to those we just uh reviewed. These areas may include decoding, fluency, vocabulary, or comprehension. Establishing these needs anchors the rest of the plan in evidence rather than guesswork. Next, we measure goals aligned with those we set measurable goals aligned with those identified areas of needs. For our sample uh B student, for example,

031the reading goal might state by the end of the school year, the student will be able to decode, that is to say, read, and encode, that is to say, spell multi-selabic words with common syllable patterns and affixes with at least 80% accuracy as measured by curriculum based reading assessments. Instructional targets break the goal into smaller skill-based steps so teachers can plan focused lessons and monitor progress effectively. The intervention plan section of the reading plan explains how the students will receive support. For this sample student, the plan might say the student will receive evidence-based reading intervention through the SIPs curriculum, which provides systematic and explicit instruction in foundational reading skills. Intervention lessons will be provided five days a week for 30 minutes by the reading tutor or interventionist. This summary section also might indicate that the

032student will work on Lexia core 5 for 20 minutes per day in the classroom. These details help teachers, parents, and students visualize what daily intervention actually looks like. Intentional, structured, and consistent. Moving to the progress monitoring portion of the plan. Progress monitoring ensures that we can see whether the invent intervention is working and make instructional adjustments as needed. For example, in this student's plan, it would say, "Student progress will be monitored using the SIP's mastery test. These checks will take place every two to four weeks or every five to 10 lessons depending on pacing. Results will be used to measure growth in foundational reading skills and guide next steps in instruction. Again, this regular data collection allows instruction to remain responsive and targeted. The final section of the reading plan outlines the tools families can

033use at home to reinforce growth. In addition to schoolprovided activities and resources, Lexia and Virginia literacy partnerships websites offer a wealth of parentfriendly materials such as practice routines, skill explanations, videos, printable activities, and guidance for supporting foundational reading skills. These resources empower parents and caregivers with concrete ways to reinforce the skills being addressed at school and help their children be more confident readers in any number of settings. Together, these five components create a reading plan that is individualized and data-driven, ensuring every student receives the focus support required under the VA. Lisa is going to return to discuss implementation of the SRPs and instructional best practices. All right. So, as we move into the next steps of the intervention cycle, the VA requires that all reading interventions provided to students must be evidence-based and approved by

034the Virginia Department of Education. This requirement is grounded in decades of research showing that children are not born wired to read. They must be taught explicitly and systematically. Evidence-based intervention means instruction is structured, researchdriven, and responsive to the data gathered through the student reading plan. Our division literacy plan outlines the VDOE approved intervention programs used in Norfol public schools, including SIPs and Lexia. These programs provide systematic research aligned instruction that help students build foundational skills and accelerate their progress across the division. We ensure that intervention providers implement these programs with consistency and fidelity so that every student receives highquality targeted support aligned with the expectations of the VA. Once evidence-based interventions are in place, the next essential step in the cycle is monitoring student progress and making adjustments when needed. Under the VLA, every student

035reading plan is overseen by our reading specialists and instructional leadership teams. This ensures that decisions about instruction are consistent, collaborative, and grounded in data. When we review progress monitoring data, we look for clear indicators of whether the intervention is working. If a student is making adequate progress, we continue the current intervention and monitor uh continue monitoring until all goals are met. If a student meets a goal early, we reinforce that skill and adjust the plan to reflect the students new instructional needs. If a student is not showing adequate progress, the SRP team meets to determine what changes are needed. That might include increasing frequency, adjusting group size, or shifting to a different skill with within our approved intervention program. Each adjustment along with its rationale is documented in the student reading plan. By reviewing plans

036collaboratively during grade level planning times and data team meetings, we ensure that support remains aligned, responsive, and focused on helping each student meet their reading goals. As we close, it's important to step back and look at the full picture of literacy in Norfick public schools. The VA has strengthened our intervention systems, but intervention is only one part of our approach. Our goal is twofold. Highquality aligned tier one instruction for all of our students and targeted and evidence-based intervention for students who need additional support. With these two pieces working together, we ensure that every student has the opportunities to succeed. This is how we advance the board's commitment to equity and excellence for all. Before we take questions, we wanted to take a moment to recognize the vital role that our reading specialists play in working

037with our families, teachers, and students to make literacy an attainable goal for every child. Norfolk Public School is fortunate to have the most dedicated and knowledgeable reading specialist in the state and their steadfast commitment to our vision has been essential to a smooth implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act across our schools. Thank you for your time and attention and we are happy to answer any questions that you have. I said >> I mean but you >> Mr. more buffalo. >> Thank you again. Always uh great presentation. Just have one question. In the cycle align intervention methods, the development of the student reading plans with families if that's not the case, what happens? Okay, so we have to by law invite parents to participate. So we send out uh multiple forms of communication to vite that

038precip precipitate participation. It could be via zoom, via phone call, or it could even be a written comment. And if they choose not to be involved within it, that's fine. We move forward with our data dive and going forth with the the intervention. >> Um so I had a similar question if I could just piggyback on on that since we're on it. Um, so when you're working with the family, do the families get this report as well? Like does this go home >> so that they can all so they they do get a copy of that? Okay. >> They get any documentation explaining it? >> Yes, they get a a copy of the student reading plan. >> Okay. So they print out a copy. >> You print out a copy for the parent and then

039they get this report as well. >> Correct. >> With an explanation of what is >> Yeah. >> Or like a highlights page. >> Yeah. So the VA connects is the website that houses the vows assessment and they've really done a great job of creating one pagers that translates those reports and explains what all the information what a scale score is, what this means for my child and um our reading specialists have access to those and always include those in those packets. >> Okay. All right. And then um I have a few other questions um related specifically like if we could go to slide 14 um where you have the HQIM and plus aligned evidence uh evidence-based interventions equals equity. Yeah, that slide. Um, so do we have uh so I know highquality instructional materials and

040aligned tier one instruction and we know that high quality instruction is probably the most school-based factor uh that leads to improvement um improving outcomes for students. So in our schools where we have higher percentages of provisionally licensed teachers or associate teachers, do we have dedicated reading specialists that are solely finded for those schools? All of our schools um have a a reading specialist, >> but are we waiting those schools that may have a higher percentage with additional reading specialist support or >> Let me jump in on that as well. So, a couple of things. One, with our instructional coaches, we we place them with where the highest needs are, where we whether it be staffing or um student data. So, that gives more assistance to those schools. And then um both Mr. Clark and Miss

041Nash have specialists and those specialists work more at those schools where there are um higher rates of non-certified teachers in the schools to be able to give more support um uh in those schools. So we do tier our support so it's they're not they don't visit every single school the equal amount of time. They base their time based off of need of teacher need and student data need. >> Okay. And so my next question and are there areas where we could be doing better or providing more stronger supports? And >> absolutely it could >> um I I mean I mean >> so so I think one of the things we talked about at the legislative lunchon um was when the VA came into effect and the VA is powerful. It's great legislation. It really focuses

042on literacy. Yeah. >> Um, but what the VA did is it shifted the role of our reading specialists from being in the classrooms and coaching and doing instructional practice the great majority of their time to now the majority of their time is student reading plans, right? >> And following the data, which is equally as important, but we get a little bit of a loss of that support. So, as we go through the consolidation plan, the the goal is to not lose any reading specialists even through attrition to keep the positions and to be able to double up where we need them more because we'll have that ability to do it because we won't be spread so thin anymore. >> Okay. Yeah. And I I'm glad you brought that up because I was thinking about that

043with the documentation of the reading plan development and monitoring and all of that that goes and adjusting and all of that that goes into >> Yeah. meeting with parents, all of that, and the time that that takes. And so that's why I was asking specifically um about that, especially in our schools that have higher percentages of non-certified teachers. So I appreciate that. Thank you. Um so can you >> can I get let somebody else ask a question? >> Um no, this is another question. You can come out. or >> great question. So with built in within our intervention uh curriculum, there are uh progress monitoring tools. So typically it's every four to six weeks, but depending on the the assessment, the the um pacing of that intervention. Um, but then we also reassess with the

044vows. We'll have a a mid-year vows assessment window to to do apples to apples and then again in the spring for our K through three students four through eight will take the so test. So they won't take the vows in the spring. >> And how how long is it taking us to see progress? >> It depends on the student. I mean >> but I mean average >> Well, we just started with the vows assessment. This is only our second year this year with the vows assessment. So we're already seeing a reduction in the number of reading plans that we had last year in K33 as compared to this year. So that is a piece of measurable progress. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And and just add on just in between those those incremental measures. >>

045One of the nice things about Lexia is real time data. Okay. So teachers have gotten PD and and they're really solid on doing weekly and even daily so that they're making adjustments, you know, as >> we're not waiting, right, >> six weeks. Okay. Um, you know, it's real time often. >> All right. Thank you so much. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Yes, I did. And that was actually a good segue into another question I had and this is probably more board level. Um, so I mean normally and I was hoping we would we would have been doing our progress monitoring of our literacy goals, the board's literacy goals. Um, and so just looking at where we are with our data, I know the reading when we've looked at it in the past. Um, and we looked

046at strategies that work and are not working. You know, the reading plans were seemed to be a strong strategy that was coming up consistently. So that was a question that I was going to ask was how are we how are we at the board level going to know that these interventions that are that are taking place as a result of you know the alignment with the VA moving the needle for our students that we are seeing that movement toward um improving progress or you know reaching that outcomes the targets that we've set in our goals um and how you you know, we have that at the board level, but how does that translate down into those reading plans? Because I I know the reading plans are specific to that student and what these reports show,

047but then, you know, kind of connecting that to the goal um you know, for the school and then, you know, the district for the district, like how can you like speak to that a little bit? >> I I'll speak to that. You know, I think the the reading plans become the base, right? Where we're giving that individualized instruction. We're focusing on the specific needs each student has. That then in turn goes to the the building level scores and goals that are then tied to the division level and board level goals. So all of it is interconnected. So, you know, really ultimately as a as a board for the board level when we do the data updates is where you see what you know, how we're progressing. At the administrative level, we look at the nitty-gritty

048and say what specific um resources are are useful and are advantageous for our students. And then at the board level, you see that at budgeting time because we're going to ask for what we need that supports our students and then we're going to sunset what doesn't support our students. So that I mean that really when you think board level we think that high level and so you'll see it on our progress monitoring and then you'll see it in the budget requests of you know continued use of Lexia because we're seeing positive use in Lexia know you know continued um you know continuation of the reading specialist positions even though we're consolidating schools because we know we need more help in that area. that's where you'll see the the differences in that of what our needs

049are and how it's impacting student growth. >> Okay. >> And I appreciate that. Um and I also wanted to hear more specifically about how uh the VA is being used specifically for students with disabilities and our LL students. and if you know having an IEP, how the IEP is formed based on what is required by the VA and if you could speak to um >> um there's a a large percentage of our students who have SRPs, student reading plans that also are cross-categized. They have IEPs or um are categorized as L. Um so it's really a collaborative process when we're creating those SRPs. If a student has an IEP, the third first thing we want to do is to see are the IEP goals aligned with what the SRP states. And if it is a

050decoding desk deficit, then we can make decisions as to who's going to provide that uh level of intervention and it can count towards their IEP goals. And the same thing for our L population. A lot of the L students, of course, are going to have decoding deficits, but they also have large language um deficits as well. So, they're going to get um multi- points of intervention from their LT teacher and the intervention provider to hit those specific decoding deficits. >> I just gave just again another concrete example. Um I was at one of our middle schools and gave PD to a uh recently hired Title One teacher um who's supporting in a resource block and also in an ELA class. And so, we're talking about opportunities for potential who's who is allocated to that school,

051but then also that title one teacher during that uh that resource block that the student has can weave it in intervention, not two different things going on, but rather one very intentional focus for that student, but the opportunity for multiple settings. So especially for our ELLL student like this the screener how is that administered uh for a student? Is it with the assistance of an uh ELA? >> We're we're assessing specifically their ability to read English language and and progress in that. Yeah. >> Okay. That's required, right, Miss Nash? >> Yes. I mean, there is a Spanish version of the vowels, but you would only use that in specific examples if you wanted to assess in their home tongue if there are some decoding issues to see if there's more going on and to triangulate

052that data. But that has to go through an approval process and you have to have an interpreter to deliver it. >> Okay. And what is like how uh how is that is that a quite a cumbersome process to do that? I mean >> like just to get the resources and it just you know every situation is different and that would be be a really unique scenario where you would want to dig that deep. >> Okay. All right. I was just curious. No, that's it for me. >> Questions. >> Thank you. >> Very enlightening. >> Uh moving on to agenda item 3.02, 02 the school resource officer memorum memorum of understanding conversation discussion with Mr. >> Good afternoon chair the college vice chair Thomas board members Dr. poll. So, we're going to I'm going to present

053to you information regarding school resource officer program on evaluation that is required by Virginia code and discuss next steps as far as the uhou that is uh would be required to continue the program. So the scope of our scope of our evaluation uh we got information from six schools that contain uh SRO's currently and that's Booker T. Washington High School, Graanby High School, Lake Taylor High School, Mory High School, Norview High School, and Ruffner. Um, right now there are six school resource officers that are assigned to NOFK public schools full-time and they're assigned to these schools. They were assigned there last year for the majority of last year and so far this year. What we used to evaluate the SRO's was information that was contained in our synergy u regarding discipline. um the currentou, the

054proposedou which I believe you have a copy of that was uh with your information and the school climate survey that was conducted at the end of last school year. Our evaluation instrument and survey results of individuals that were surveyed through those particular schools. Across every school that we evaluated, there was consistent strengths in the SRO program. Uh, one was visibility, accessibility for both school personnel, students. Um they were evaluated very high as being professional, good communication with our staff, being very knowledgeable of both what goes on in the school, the community, the law, and um their judgment and dealing with students and dealing with issues as it comes to the school. They also received high uh marks as far as organization and of their um activities and overall impact that they had on the school.

055We're asked questions in the survey that dealt with how well the impact of their presence in the school had on issues that could affect North public schools. And these are issues that relate to uh vaping, assaults, weapons, sex offenses, vandalism, threats, and gang related activities. And out of these, all of these gain high marks. The lowest mark being their impact on vaping. Um and that was at about 64%. And these are just again observations made by the staff and individuals that were in the school. some of the comments that the principles of these schools made specifically were very appreciative of the SRO's. Um, one principal in particular stated that the SRO that was in their building is the best one that they've seen since they've been in school administration. Um, they received high praise for

056the relationships that they build with the students and the staff. So, some of the key takeaways that we see in the program is that it has a very high approval um rating, about 89%. Out of the respondents of the survey, only about 6% disapprove of it. And the biggest thing I can tell you is that um there were a couple of people who may have expressed philosophical differences with putting a police officer in a school, but the disapproval was not because of activities by the officers themselves. Biggest majority of them would like to see the program expanded. Several people mentioned that it should be throughout more schools. SRO's only represent a portion of individuals that are in the schools that provide security for the school staff and for the school those individuals in the schools.

057Right now currently at NOFK public schools there are school security officers assigned to every school that has sixth grade students and above. There is um school security officer that is assigned to one elementary school and that is due to uh things that occur in the neighborhood and we assigned u a school re a school security officer to that school as well. So for our next steps, what I recommend is that we continue our partnership with NOFK Police Department. And right now, again, they're providing school resource officers in our secondary schools because of their staffing. Um it would not be they were not in a position to expand the program, but that gives us an opportunity to pursue partnerships with NOFK Sheriff's Office. Um we have had preliminary discussions with them and this is something that

058is possible. Um there of course would have to be certain things that would occur before it could happen but it is possible. And then the other thing that we do is continue to provide professional development for both the administrators and the SRO's and this is something that is required by state code. So at this point I take any questions or if there's any discussions if anybody has any questions of me >> I just want to say thank you. I was in that elementary school you talking about about two weeks ago and I was very happy to see that and I just want to say you and your staff is doing a wonderful job and thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay I have a question. So the of the six school all the six schools

059that are listed here are staffed with SRO. >> Yes, they're staffed with North police officers full-time as SRO's. >> Right. And so moving forward, there's um talks of partnership with the sheriff's office so we can staff them in the middle schools. It would be middle schools and additional schools that we may deem it could benefit from it >> because at some point at one time all the middle schools were were um staffed with the SRO officer. >> Correct. That is correct. So I don't know if >> so and you know in past years theou still states 19 I believe 19 >> correct for our for in theou and for the past few years with the difficulty the north police department has had with staffing they haven't been able to provide the SRO's but we've still

060pursued to keep it at 19 so that we had the possibility of if staffing does improve that we can get SRO's however Mr. Hughes has been working in reaching out to the sheriff's department to say, "Well, if we can't get the police department, maybe maybe some sheriff's deputies can fill in that role as well." >> And just looking into the future, do does Norfolk see having security officers in all of our elementary schools? >> I would love to. Um, budgetarily, I don't know if it's attainable in the near future, >> but I would love to have one in each of our elementary schools. In fact, when I met with the elementary school principles about budgeting, that was one of their requests was a was a security officer at the elementary level. >> I have a

061question. >> Do any of these SRO's have um any training or receive any training in mental health uh working with children who have mental health issues and specifically working with children? So part of the curriculum for the SRO training um there is a portion of that that is dedicated to mental health training and u working with um juveniles with mental health challenges that is that training for the SRO's is specifically for them and part of our theou states that within six months either the SRO once they're assigned to a school or within six months of being assigned to a school, they will complete the program um through Department of Criminal Justice Services for an SRO and that is part of the curriculum for it. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Do you have something to say

062Dr. >> I was just going to add and just Mr. Hughes to clarify in order to be a school resource officer you have to go through specialized training. You can't just be a nor police officer and be put into a school. There is specific training for it. Yes. >> Thank you. SRO limited to sworn officers only? >> Yes. Okay. At this point, they have to be a sworn officer and they're employed by the city of Norolk. Um there are other um we there is a the ability to be able for the school system to hire former police officers, but they're not considered SRO's. that is a different position very similar to the school security officer. >> Um so I have I have a few questions. Um first if we could go back could you speak

063to exactly who the respondents are in the survey results? >> So the survey we did surveys in those six schools. Uh we surveyed number one the principles um administrative staff, instructional staff and students. >> So So that that graph um on the third Yeah. So that is indicative of everybody >> of everybody. Yes. >> Okay. So, did you look specifically at, you know, how principles, how staff responded versus how students responded? Because that's something I would be really interested to to know how students responded to having SRO's in the building. >> Part of what we did, the surveys were blind, >> so we did not we did not separate them out except for the principles, but the staff and the students um they were in together. How big is your sample? >> Um, I don't

064have the exact number, but we we got about on average about 40 or 50 folks from each school, but I don't have the specific. >> That's that's fine. So, that's a small Yeah. segment of um so this is this is you know and I I know I asked questions when we went over the climate survey about which about some of these things that I know weren't really captured in that piece but that is something that I think moving forward and I probably said it the last time we reviewed the theou about really trying to capture that information because it's really important I know some are philosophically uh in alignment with having an SRO in every building and maybe multiple SRO's in every building where I'm more of having uh the behavioral and mental health supports

065um in in building so that because that's really at the root of what is transpiring right so um I would like to know rather than having a more carceral environment having a nourishing a nurturing environ environment, a learning environment, you know, that than one that is um, you know, I've heard oftentimes from students that it's, you know, prison-like versus being a real uh, student centered academic environment. So, that's what my hope for the vision for the future is not to have more officers in every building, but um, more of the mental health and behavioral supports in in our buildings. And so I'd like to know more about the thoughts, feelings, attitudes of our students and staff and principles. Um, and I understand the need for it right now. You know, I'm not saying, you know,

066remove them all. I believe in looking at the need and and uh making decisions based on that. But that is like my overall hope for the future is that we have these other additional supports um in our budget and in um uh the more supportive uh resources for our students versus um uh the officers. Um the other thing is so I'd like to know more about respondents and anytime we get information like this, data like this that it be separated into those categories so we know how big how many respondents um and um you know broken out by demographic groups. I'd like to know like what percentage were students, you know, you like it's hard to just go by what like the principles were or are because what are there six? >> It's only six

067and that's why they're separated out separately because we had a specific instrument that we use with the principles and we had separate conversations with the principles. The principal's responses are not included in those numbers. They had, like I said, very specific things that we dealt with this. But I think it's important to know what the staff is thinking versus what >> Correct. Correct. And I think SRO's make adults feel safer, but they don't necessarily make students feel safer. Um but um we got two students sitting here. >> Yeah, I know. Yeah, that's >> exactly. And I you know um as a student I go to Norview. I feel that having the officers there definitely make me feel more safe. But to what Miss Bassine was saying, I do agree that it's also like mental health.

068So I feel like if there were more mental health people as well, like make it kind of um it would be very very helpful. Um, like today we had a hall sweep and of course there was like a lot of officers and there was a lot of yelling telling people to get to their classes and everything and a lot of students were getting frustrated and I feel like even though everyone was in their classes I just feel like again it's all about like the mental health aspect and how kids are treated at home that root problem as well as having security because again it's very a lot of my other peers. Uh I think it's just >> that and want to add to that. I'd love to hear. >> Yeah, I think they're definitely necessary

069because I mean there was two fights in Graanby today and like if the security officers or the SRO wasn't there like it would have gotten a lot worse. But I do think it can feel prison-like sometimes if around every corner there's another security guard and then there's gates in front of the bathrooms and you can't leave your class 15 minutes before >> or 15 minutes at the end. So it I feel like you have to find the balance because if you just keep adding more guards like students are just going to keep retaliating. They don't the ones that are causing problems don't like the guards. So if you keep adding more it's just kind of it does feel like a prison. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I so I'm so grateful that we have students at

070the table to to share that. >> Um and so yeah, I mean I oftentimes hear it from students and um >> but you're sitting here and I appreciate you both sharing that perspective. Um so and I'd like to hear more of that um in whatever way we do it through our student advisory groups through you know just how how do we make safer environments that are also nurturing environments. Um, but I also want to know how our SRO's because I know in ourou it there's a distinction made between you know whose responsibility it is they their responsibility is to assess criminal threats right and not necessarily upholding our regular policies and all of that uh you know so in terms of how they feel they are being used I'd also like to know how that

071feedback from the SRO, like what are things that they see that are needed that they are not necessarily needed for but are being like how are they being pulled into tasks and responsibilities by principles or the staff that they necessarily that aren't maybe in a in aren't congruent with theou. >> Well, >> and you might have some information about that already. >> And I do. So I the SRO's fall under one particular captain, one particular unit in the police department. Um and I think we probably with that captain we speak I know at least two or three times a week. Um in addition to that we meet specifically regularly with that unit and we listen to issues. Most of the SRO's they know they their role they learn their role and that's part of the

072training that we do and it's training that's required for both the SRO and the administrator from the school. So the principles get um training specifically for the SRO program and that again that's required by state code and it sets out a very clear line of what the mo I mean u what the SRO's responsibilities are compared to what school officials responsibilities are. The um SRO's are not involved in student discipline. They are, like you said, they are involved in what could be considered criminal activity. Um, they will come and assist uh if there's a disturbance, if there's a fight, but in the majority of cases, unless it gets to the point where the school security officer or school staff can't handle it, then that's when they would step in. Uh, it's it's not that they

073would be the very first person to do anything. Um the majority of my interaction with the SRO's again it has focused on criminal activity and and those things. They call me regularly. I call them regularly and uh so it's not a lot of overreach and I think NOFK has participated in the program long enough that if there was overreach at some point in time those things have gone away because they've learned um five out of the six SRO's have more than um more than seven years as an SRO with that experience. We only have one new SRO and um he's a actually a former North public school student who has gone and he's you know now functions as the SRO and he got extremely high marks uh and his mark um his rating from students

074anecdotally I can tell you was very high um because he is young and he can relate to them um and that's why I thought he was a good addition to the program. >> Right. That's good to hear. But I I guess I'm also specifically wanting to know how the SRO's like is there is is there is there any mechanism in place to get feedback from them? So you're saying under this unit they come back and they can bring what they feel like are big issues. Yes. Right. And that's how you do it. They can they they the majority of it will go to the police department, go to their their CO, but they can also call me and like I said, we have a good relationship and we uh you know, we speak to them

075and we talk to them all the time. >> I'd like to add too, and that's also why there's a requirement every two years to revisit theou. So, if there are things that aren't working, it's a joint effort between the the public schools and the city. So that's also opportunity for feedback from the Norfick Police Department on this is or is not working in theou. >> Okay. So because there are no changes to theou, we're assuming everything is working as it as stated in theou. So that's okay. So that's >> there are there are some changes to theou to fit in with state code and the model. Right. Right. Right. Uhouou that uh DCJS puts out. Right. But as far as just the the specifics of how we do things, there are no changes. >> There

076are no major changes. Yes. Okay. All right. Um that's helpful to know. Um Okay. And then um how can you can you review with us real quick? Um how is determined how many SRO's like right now we have one per building, right? Like h how are how do we determine based on need how many we need? Like so whether it's SRO's or SSOs because I know we have the SRO's but we also have the school security officers which are different. >> The SRO's they are assigned right now originally they were assigned to secondary schools, middle and high schools but because of their shortages um they came out of those schools. So the number that we have are just based on availability from the police department. >> Okay. >> And with the six it's you know

077more important I believe to put them in high school. They we get the biggest um return on our investment of using them in the high schools. And um the other was put in Ruffner um again because we thought we would get a good return on you utilizing that individual in um Ruffner. the school security officers um they are our employees and they fall under me. So the way I determine how we put them in the particular schools I use a matrix and I go by I use a lot of different um factors. I look at the size of the student body. I look at the size of the building itself, the number of entrances in the building. I also get discipline data from synergy and I look at the number of overall incidents that occurred

078in the school and I review that quarterly and I look at it and I also in addition to the overall incidents I look at the type of incidents and so if there are you know what what I would consider violent incident or serious incident um that may carry more weight than just several incidents of maybe um you know disrespectful behavior or whatever and the so I look at the overall number of incidents and then the type of incidents and I kind of use a matrix and a little bit of a formula and it gives me an idea of the number of officers I should have in there. Uh right now um we employ 69 uh full-time officers and uh we have six zone supervisors that you know kind of help take care of it because

079it is you know going from school to school and dealing with them. it takes a little bit of extra and between those we're able to respond to any calls or any any instances that may happen and it also gives us the ability to move people around if you know something changes at a school. I just wanted to say um it's very necessary that we have the officers in the schools and I appreciate that 10 years coming 10 years from out of North public schools I know firsthand without some of the officers we wouldn't know what to do and in certain cases I know we have our mental issues but some of our babies also have behavior serious behavior issues and that's something you know regular staff can't handle so having security is wonderful and one

080day in the budget If we can have all security in all our schools, I will push it. >> Thank you. >> Uh we will now move on to agenda item 4.01, the CIP window replacement fund reprogramming. Thanks, Madame Chair, uh, vice chair, members of the board. Um, really no formal presentation on this and Mr. Freillley is here to assist with any questions we may have. He is not feeling well, so I told him I would take the speaking part right now. Um, the a few years ago in the CIP, we had window replacement projects already funded. So, these are fully funded projects. However, five of the schools listed on there are due. They're on the consolidation list. So clearly we don't want to invest more finances into those schools and the as we all know

081costs have gone up. Um and as almost luck would have it in the process of of getting the the bidding done for the window replacements be done this summer. If we use the funding from those five schools that are on the consolidation list, we are within $18,000 of fully funding the window projects that were slated to be done. Um, so we just wanted to bring to the board since it was voted on as a CIP project with those schools on the list that consideration to just really we have the funding, transfer the funding from those five schools into the remaining schools um to be able to do the window replacements this summer um on those schools. We're coming now kind of on an off cycle. It's it's not budget time. We're of course developing budget,

082but it's not budget voting time right now. wanted to have that done sooner than later so we can get bids out for the projects. So, we wanted to bring it to a work session in case there were questions um so that we just didn't throw it on a business meeting agenda for vote. So, that's the whole purpose for today. So, uh Mr. Freley and I are here to answer any questions you may have. >> Are there questions? Um, so the five schools that are being asked to move funds are obviously Willoughby, Berkeley, Campus, Stella, uh, NTC, PB Young, and Gent, >> right? They're in red, I believe. >> Yes, they're in red. And um so my question is so for some of the schools that are down the road though um which I know could

083change based on the redistricting work or you know decisions that the board makes um you know to could change um or could accelerate the the closure process. But in the meantime, right now, based on the the time that we have, are is the current state of the windows and doors in in a safe um you know, cool, dry, and warm, you know, are we able to provide all of those things for the years that they are still going to be active uh before closure? So, I just want to make sure that >> Yeah, know it's a great question, Minion. Yes, they are. And any repairs that would need to be made will stay up on the repairs. Okay. >> Um to make sure they are, but the you know the full window replacements is really

084a a huge upgrade to a school. So they are um in usable fashion and keeping the wind and rain out. And if there are repairs needed, we'll do those repairs along the way um to keep the schools in a in a usable fashion. >> So we will have the funds to do those repairs. >> Correct. building. >> Okay, >> that will really change. >> Okay, >> because of the process of the next step. Right. Right. Okay. Well, I I just wanted to hear and ask that question that for the years that they are that we will have the funds to repair what needs to be repaired. >> Yes, it will >> um along the way. So, um just wanted to that was really >> uh are there any of of those replacements that are ongoing

085now that are carryovers from last year or previous years that haven't been done? >> The the documents that I gave to Dr. pulled that were posted are there's a primary document in there that lists all the CIP projects that have been funded since 2122 that were not completed. The way you can read it so you know exactly what year if you look at the GL line at the end of the GL line it says 22 23 24 25 that's the funding year. So, what the reason some of these window projects were were held up was because we had a three-year cycle for ESSER and as you guys approved, we did 17 major ESSER upgrades and nine minor ones. Sorry y'all. And um and they had to be done in 36 months and there was no

086way we could do HVAC and windows at the same time in a building. It just you can't too many people working. You can't do it. So we had to make the decision to push all the window projects after the roofs and after the HVAC. So what you'll see on there is they are they have been funded for since 22. Some of them >> I believe that was your question. >> Right. They're funded but they're they're not completed and >> no none of the window projects that are highlighted in gold have been started. >> I have this is what I printed off. >> Okay. But it's and it's not the same thing that you're talking. Yeah, I I I I get it. >> You can have my I'll glad to give you my copy. >> But

087I I can get it here. I just didn't. >> Yes, sir. >> I got this. So, uh I'm just making trying to make sure that those ones and I can't remember which school it was that they said, "Oh, yeah. We're going to do it." And then it didn't happen and all the windows are hanging around >> the windows. No. there. Anyone that was tabled was tabled because of Esser and none of the materials have been ordered. The only materials that might have been ordered are the newest ones that have been awarded, but there's no windows laying around in any of our warehouses. I assure you do you have >> just one big one? >> And there's a lot in there, too, by the way. >> Uh, yes, there is. It's a big warehouse. Okay. >>

088Other questions? >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. >> Now move on to our final agenda item 4.02. Agenda items. Mr. Duff. Um, I was just thinking about some of the professional development that we go through as a board and um, now that we have some newer members that we I'd like to propose that we focus Oh, and also that we are have been self-proclaimed as a data driven board that um, that we explore some opportunities for data analysis training and I think that that could help us have to more productive >> conversations around our data >> and that might mean all of us sitting in one class or sitting in different classes and Dr. Dr. Paul, I'd really love to hear recommend not right now, but like at some point I'd like to hear if you

089had any recommendations. >> There used to be a web a webinar for board members called the data made me do it. So, and then um and even with the student outcomes focused governance, they teach you, you know, goal setting how to progress monitor all of that comes with that. Um but I agree and that was a topic I had as well. So I don't know if you're done. >> No. Well, not not the d not necessar >> I'm dasing. >> She's always teasing me about that. Um the but really around governance training, but I don't know if you're done. >> Well, I was also going to um I don't I guess I will ask you Dr. Paul to what degree is are you all using AI in your data analysis? And because I'd like to

090um mimic what you all are doing so that we're all on the same page. >> Yeah. So I mean we've we've jumped in with AI this year. Um so I mean it it it we use chat GPT we have a a contract with them and we use magic school with the teachers and there's an expectation that um we do data analysis with AI to help with it not as the only analysis but to assist with the work that we're doing. Um so I mean that's something that's very plausible that we could integrate into the data analysis training for the board as well. Um, so I want to echo what Dr. Martin just said and focus really mine was more broadly to bring back the governance training topic because we that's come up in our future

091agenda items, but really um and of course the board self-evaluation. You you posed several dates for us to gave several dates that didn't work for the month of December. Um, I've been in contact with them. Was hoping for dates today calendarers, but they haven't gotten. All right. And then um uh I would I don't know if there are already plans if an agenda planning you made plans for this already, but just an update of and it doesn't have to be an agenda for a board meeting, but just an update a little more um expansive than what we've gotten in the weekly bulletins about where we are with the school consolidation closure timelines and um progress that's being made there um especially for the schools that are going to be impacted in this next school year.

092>> And we have that on the December 17th agenda already. It's in the draft agendas folder. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Great. And then um finally, so you know, I wanted to hear what our student schoolboard reps are working on, what we can, you know, what what the plans are and just better how to better incorporate. I thought today's segue into our conversation discussion was fantastic and I'd like to see us have, you know, a better cadence around inviting their voice during our discussions. Um, and so it's not really an agenda item unless it's something that we have to look at through policy, but it's just I'd like in your agenda plan, like you know, kind of really formulating a more structured way of getting uh student voice and student participation in our meetings. Oh, I

093just wanted to pose that for agenda planning. Um, I just want to add to that since Athena and I went to the workshop um in Williamsburg and spoke to other like representatives and stuff, we found that they kind of had more of a um like time to speak or to ask questions or anything like that. And also they kind of had a um I guess like document or anything like that kind of detailing like what exactly they are like supposed to be doing. Um cuz I just feel like we kind of were not sure exactly what we're supposed to be. Our goal was today to kind of Would it be appropriate to have them give a monthly? >> Absolutely. >> A lot of the other places rep >> the board in agreement and I'd love

094to hear like I thank you for bringing that up. they went to the uh the student workshop at VSBA's conference a few weeks ago, a couple weeks ago. And if there are ideas um you know that they can share with us about how we can do this better, I mean, who better to give them to us than than them? Um you know, I'd like to hear about that. So, >> what do we plan for the new year to have them do that's you know >> format what that looks like and >> necessar like what exactly should we >> well I mean it's sort of driven I guess it's going to be driven by what is going on in the schools >> and and perhaps you know you you two could collaborate on what that um

095with Dr. poll, you know, in your team like what that might look like and kind of give guidance to them and then >> Yeah. And Dr. Hillian Sullivan is a, you know, a kind of a mentor for it. So, we'll we'll work on that and have a, you know, we'll start it and by trial and error just like everything else, we'll improve it as we go along. But I think hearing student voice at the board meetings is absolutely acceptable. Great. I guess question for the policy committee and this is a question. How do we other than legislation coming down and those kind of things how we tackle our our policies? Um is that the only way look at a policy? Do we like look because I was looking through our policy book the eight chapters

096and just kind of glancing. Um, has there ever been a time we went chapter by chapter to review every policy um that we have in our book and just having some kind of cycle? >> Well, that's where that's where the policy committee first came into being. Well, that's where my question. >> Um, and then so now I think we're at a point where >> um, you know, a lot of things are have been cleaned up, outdated policies have been removed, and you could probably speak more to that. >> Yeah. So, um, over the past year because it's not it's not an easy task. Um, actually it was the the S 2425 school year. Um, I worked uh closely with a couple people um to look at all the policies, read through them, created a spreadsheet

097with expiration dates um because all the the policies that we share with VSBA every 5 years we get updates on those. But any Norfolk policy, if we don't have our own cycle, that's not getting renewed. That's one. So, I've created that now so that we're in a we're in a spot now um where we can we have the ability to start doing that to start reviewing our policies. And then also if there's a a policy that board members, you know, have concern or or want to see change, that's conversation we can have and it can be taken to the board policy committee and have discussion before it comes to the full board. Um so like like internally administratively if there's a change whether it's legis legislative change or there's a reason for a change um

098then we can work on that policy change. Um the schoolboard rep policy right now is in my folder right now because the last time we brought it we talked about or at the policy review committee we brought it up and we talked about wanting to make it more norentric instead of vsacentric. So you know those are in the in the process. If you look on each of the policies, there's a date for when it was reviewed. >> Well, that's what I I didn't know if we had a system like >> we've grown into one. >> Okay. Okay. That's good. >> Yes. >> Oh, sure. >> Uh I'll talk a little bit about the efficiency of our meeting time and making it what I think would be a little better. We spend a lot of time

099with some presentations that are almost read to us and and I think that we as responsible members should we we can develop our questions and come in the the individual giving it the presentation could say uh here's some highlights here's some changes are there any questions and we can ask it instead of 15 minutes what whatever the time is going slide by slide. But then the challenge comes in with that is how do we make sure that the public knows what changes have been made and how do they actually have access to some of the uh data that we have that that we're looking at? >> They do, but I um because anything that's in the public domain is available on the agenda. Um my concern is that I feel that that time, this is

100my personal opinion, that that time is used not just to inform us but to inform the public who might be in the audience or streaming because I do hear from a lot of people who do stream the schoolboard meetings. So it's a time to help educate our community. So I hate to guess sometimes it does take a long time. I get all of those things, but even when I've read the documents in advance, which do I still always glean some benefit from having it gone through? So, I I see it as a two poor thing. Making sure I understand the material and making sure our public is being educated. So that that was my intent is to to cause the dialogue because it it I think it's a good idea and but then how do

101you make sure that the public gets it was the second part of that and um and you point is that that's how some of them get the information uh the the public that's watching is is to see here and and have an explanation for it instead of them having a question that they they don't know how to ask it cuz we're in the middle of a meeting. So that's I think that you what you've said is is a better way is to I mean we've been doing it so and it's been successful. >> I understand the efficiency part wanting to use our time efficiently. Um, so any other thoughts, >> other items from the floor? >> One. Okay. Um, I noticed Well, not notice, but I was thinking that um for more I think we

102should have more input from from our uh citizens. we have once a month where there's they can come and speak and we don't have 50 to 100 people at at our meetings. We have very few and why not at the workshops have a a comment period. >> I think part of our job, right, is to go out and speak with our community. But I need we need the board. >> Well, they you you may not get to to everybody because if you go to civic league meetings or church meetings or other community meetings, there's there's some folks that can come and they can't come on the third Wednesday of the month. I think it's >> limiting it to once >> is not a good I don't think it's a a a good idea to have

103only one input. >> All right. But >> they have more than one input. They have emails, phones, our website. >> It's not the same. >> Well, I'm just saying they do have more than one input. I don't want that to be what people conversation. >> He wasn't saying that. >> I was saying one input in this room. Right. Well, the design of this work session is so that we can take the information that's proposed and for action at our business meeting and really get down to understanding that. And if we're going to allow public comment in our work session, we might not get that opportunity to really digest what is expected of us in the materials presented to us. >> Yeah, I think >> that doesn't make a difference. I mean, Yeah, >> it doesn't

104make a difference. >> And I think you know to the point of um using meeting time efficiently too is that this is our work session so that we can understand what it is exactly what Dr. Martin just said about what we're going to make a vote on in the next um in the next business meeting. And so I personally, you know, we we do have there are multiple ways to provide comment and um I think that that's this allows us to have real focused attention on on doing the board work and allowing community input in person in that manner. you know, although there's various ways to get that input um every day, but you know, so I'm I'm I'm in support of keeping I think we're actually um we we allow probably the greatest opportunity

105for citizen input than some other divisions that only allow their citizens to speak on agenda items. Whereas that's something that we have over the years have kind of fought against where we've had board members who's just wanted us to have citizen comment on agenda items versus non-aggenda items. And that's been uh something we've fought to keep agenda and non-aggenda items to give as broad of a base and an an opportunity for citizens to comment and bring their concerns to us. So I think that where a lot of boards don't even do that. Um so um I personally would like to keep the the structure that we've been doing. Um that's my personal view. >> We're talking about North. We're not talking about other boards. And my thing is let's ask the community. Ask them what

106they think. Should we do it twice a month? Put a survey out or something. Ask them what they want. >> I like the idea of a survey. Get let's get input from from the our constituents, our our citizens, our even even our scholars, those that are in the school. These are all people that we're responsible to. This gives us more account or them an opportunity more opportunity to make us accountable. >> Right. We potentially we start our meetings at 4:00 and our we start our business meetings at 7. Is 4:00 potentially an even bigger barrier than making it here at 7 o'clock? >> Well, that's where I was I was going. So, >> I'm sorry. Yeah. Extended time. It's it's um so is the board willing to extend time you know in a work session

107to you know provide for public comment. Um I would love to see a model what that looks like if that even exists. What does a a board having public comment during a work session? Where's Do we have a model what that looks like? >> We can look into it. >> Yeah. I'm I'm I'm just I'm just curious if there's a board that >> cuz is the time personal with us or is it our community? >> If they don't have a problem, then we shouldn't have a problem. >> Well, I don't I don't think anyone said it was a problem. I was just asking >> that a work session is normally for an opportunity for the board to do board work and have conversations around the table around certain uh agenda topics and really flush out

108especially if there's a topic that's moving to action. We have to have opportunity when we're in the room together to have conversations around specific topics. And a business meeting is what a business meeting is. It's a meeting where the board takes takes action. So, and for us to do that, we have to have our opportunity again when we're all together around the table to discuss agenda items that may move forward to action or just having conversations around a specific agenda topic. So, I mean, we get together twice a month. Twice a month. And this is an opportunity for us to have those conversations. >> Normally twice a month. >> Yeah. Well, yeah. So, um that's that's where I am. I I just >> um Dr. >> Well, I was going to say I I do

109think there are ways that we could do much better at um getting input from our citizens through, you know, not just through the surveys, but um you know, the comments. I think there was something I was recently looking up whether it's be you know first or second reading of a policy for instance and this is something we've talked a lot about is like you have to click multiple times to get to the where you even see that a policy is up for a first or second reading and so a a community member wouldn't even know you know and so those are things that those are processes that I'd like to see improve not necessarily to provide time in our meetings but provide greater accessibility through the all the other modes of communication that we have.

110Um so but you know as far as our meeting time goes it needs to be very focused and um so I I continue to support what we're currently doing but I'm open to feedback you know. So, in my time on the board, we went from public comment um being any topic to public comment being only >> agenda items to splitting it into two where one was agenda items and one was for non-aggenda items >> and at the end of the meeting. >> Yes. And at the end of the meeting it was the non-aggenda items. 9:00 >> and then um we've through all of that come back to allowing the public to speak on non-aggenda and agenda items and I think that's that's been the best option and I think that's why we came back to

111it. So we've tried other ways and ultimately came back to the original one that most every school board uses. Well, you have new members on this board. That's what y'all tried. >> No, no. I This has been through different people, >> but we're new. I'm talking about for us right now. >> And that's he's just giving historical content. Yeah. >> And and this has been different iterations of the board, not the same members of the board because it's not one that I supported. It's not, you know, um, we had more restrictive, we had folks on the board that wanted more restrictive comments comment, more restrictive comment period than what we currently have. And so, both championed having broader comment periods. So, comment, but that may have been the history. That may have been the way

112things are, but we have people, our constituents and all that that's changing and we need to change with them. And if and I I like the idea of letting them tell us what they want us to. We're here to serve them, not them serve us. >> I I agree. I No one's saying they're here to serve us. >> I don't know. I'm just in I'm just giving you a historic perspective of what has gone on in North public schools since I've been on the board. >> Yeah. >> And there will be always be change. >> There will always be and we and we I know and we have the same model as our city council has. I mean they have a work session >> and then they follow up two weeks later they have their

113business meeting where they conduct business and that's you know that's what work session is. Yeah, it's kind of standard practice, but you know, >> any other >> Yes. >> future. >> Uh joint Yes. >> joint meeting. Yes. >> Yes. Joint meeting with the city council. >> And you know what? With the joint meeting, if we could, and I I think I shared this with my counterpart on city council. if we can get a standard no not standard I'm sorry reoccurring meeting on the calendar so we won't find ourselves every year trying to get a date on the calendar if we're going to say we're going to meet you said that >> I know but we going to have to be in intentional about if we're going to say we're going to meet in the spring

114and meet in the fall let's get some dates on the calendar and and um you know beforehand so we won't find ourselves every year trying to find a date that that works for everyone. >> I sent a a response to the chair this morning and that was included in there for her response she was spending today that we do a two-year calendar with city council with determining it. There was a communication and I forgot what it was about. went out today. But that that was my um suggestion for additions in there is we we should do that forecasted. We actually we should do the same with our mo monitoring calendar because there's most what you see on there for this year is going to be the same next year. Graduation's going to happen. all these

115other things. And it can be easily put up there as as a general guide for two to three years. And then we can put lots of information on there so it it doesn't get lost. I think that'll do it for this meeting. We'll wait till the next On to the last agenda item. Meeting is adjourned.