School Board Business Meeting: 6-15-22

001i call the meeting to order uh madam clerk would you please call the roll let's see here hamson here clanton here gabriel uh excuse we'll be here later okay jordan here ralston here martin and dr martin's on our way um we'll hear the motion to enter um into executive closed session i move to enter into closed session okay second it's been moving properly seconded that we enter an executive closed session and madam clerk will you please read the motion yes move that the members of the school board go into a closed session for the purposes which are set out in subsection a of section 2.2 dash 3711 of the virginia freedom of information act as amended for discussion consideration or interviews of prospective candidates for employment assignment appointment promotion performance demotion salaries disciplining or resignation

002of specific public officers appointees or employees of the school board of the city of norfolk pursuant to sub section 2.2 that's 3711a1 of the act the subjects of this portion of the session are the key are the personnel on today's regular personnel docket discussion or consideration of disciplinary and any other matters concerning students in norfolk public schools that would involve the disclosure of information contained in the scholastic record pursuant to subsection 2.2-3711a2 of the act the subjects of this portion of the session are the students on today's regular student support agenda and c consultation with legal counsel and briefing by staff members or consultants pertaining to actual or probable litigation where discussion and open session would adversely affect the school boards negotiating or litigating posture and consultation with legal counsel regarding specific legal matters requiring

003a provision of legal advice by council pursuant to sub-sections 2.2-3711a 7-8 of the act the subjects of this portion of the session are those set out above in sub-sections a and b of this motion and a discussion of actual litigation cheryl jordan v norfolk city school board and covell enterprise company and cheryl r jordan v school board of the city of norfolk dba norfolk public schools u.s district court for the eastern district of virginia case number two colon two colon22-cv-167 madam clerk and members of the board on section c the consultation of legal counsel in briefing of the staff members i am asking for an amendment because i believe that there's a perceived conflict of interest potentially so i'm asking that that section c um be stricken from today and that we have an additional

004conversation on the um on i'm asking for an amendment to the resolution uh as a small body i'm making it do i hear a second right it's been moved and properly seconded is there any discussion on the particular item yes yes mr jordan i'm not certain what the what the issue is that would require it to be stricken um i believe that um with this particular item here that there are i haven't gotten into the folded but i think that there may be some perceived conflict with even some of the members on the board that may be participating in this particular um lawsuit so i having our attorneys speak about it in a session here i believe um is is not in the best interest at this particular time well if there's a perceived conflict

005wouldn't it be more appropriate for anyone who has a conflict to declare a conflict and not participate versus to have it stricken after it's been agreed upon by the board too it hasn't been agreed upon it's been a motion but if you'd like to recuse yourself you can't oh you mean me yeah i mean you just said what you could do you could recuse yourself uh i i'm fine with that i don't have any uh any issue with it not sure what conflict of interest i have but since you since you raised the issue i would hate for the board to not be able to have whatever discussion that the board has asked for for several weeks if you believe i have a conflict i think that what i would have preferred is uh to

006just contact me and let me know that rather than follow it do this do this fashion well are you recusing yourself i'd be more than happy to thank you then i will withdraw my amendment uh madam clerk please call the roll excuse me i have another question on the motion so there was a also a request to have another matter considered during the closed session i just wasn't sure where that where that ended up yeah the other matter um these are the only three that were submitted by the attorney that i'm aware of what other matter was that uh mrs basin had submitted a request asking if there was a matter that could be discussed in closed session mr scene there was there was a matter that i had requested last week and had included

007the full board on that request um if it's what i'm thinking about when we talked to talked about it we decided that we're going to wait until after the conclusion to get a fuller story of the situation when use conclusion of what of the legal matter i just want to be uh certain that we're talking about the same thing so um is it personal related this can't it is personnel related but it is not uh restricted to what is on the personnel docket which is why i requested for it to be included in the motion yeah that's the same same situation and so um to maintain the integrity of the case that we decided to wait until the final the case was final i didn't know they're okay madam chair i think that we're talking

008about something different there really yeah um yeah attorney cloud do you have an additional section that could be read regarding personnel uh the request that i'm thinking of had to do with to discuss the performance of a particular employee and i indicated that it would be appropriate for a closed session but that you could not just uh do it by a vague reference you would have to identify the position at least by the title and it would be included in the motion and i asked board members i pointed out that the decision as to what goes into the motion is not for me to make beyond determining whether it would be legal for a closed session and ask board members uh to make the decision and i have not heard anything more but the wording

009of a particular motion as long as it is legally proper is for a vote of the board to decide and it's for the majority uh i and mr clanton you're you're more than parliamentarian than i am but perhaps miss bozzin's uh requests could be put in the form of a motion and voted on just as your request was just voted on so motion to amend the the current uh motion to enter closed session so as to add an additional specific personnel matter something along those lines all right so ms was saying if you would like to make a motion and then you have to and they have to state the name correct in position no i mean for this purpose if the vote is to add it to the closed session motion then yes it'll

010have to be specific and i will publicly offer language that would be appropriate right now it's just a motion to add that matter which i think all board members know specifically what the matter is yes oh okay i'm sorry okay we came in late it's okay so um i'll entertain an amendment to the motion to add um this performance um discussion regarding the um the the clerk correct a specific employee you need to say right now if the motion passes i will provide the amendment exactly illegal words right and i guess you know let me ask hold on all right uh i've confirmed with ms bazin now that she's actually wants to amend the closed session motion so as to discuss two personnel matters with regard to two specific employees of the board so that

011that would be the motion for the purposes of voting yes or no on amending the closed session motion then if the close if the vote is to amend the closed session motion then i will have to write the revision so as to state for the record the two employees the positions of the two employees that we're talking about but there's no need to state them at this point until the board a majority of the board has voted to discuss essentially the performance of two employees uh to be added to the closed session motion okay so the performance of two employees is what mr scene is making so just miss clamps is there a second to your amendment to add this right and i want to be clear too it's not just performance and salary so

012okay performance and salary right is there a second to her amendment second okay it's been moving properly seconded that we amend the executive session to add the discussion of two uh personnel regarding performance and salary madam clerk can you call the role in that particular oh there's discussion yeah i have a little concern here because naming the position is the same as naming the person and so we're so we're gonna have a discussion which could go any either way and it's and and it just seems to me like saying okay everybody we're gonna go in now and talk about these three people and they're in here who are who they are that you could put a stain on their refutation i mean freedom of information act requires the motion to be specific if you're going

013to discuss the performance of specific employees you have to at least refer to the title but that tells everybody who it is yes that's true particular case yes there is no way for the board to discuss the performance of for example and this is not one of the positions we're talking about but if it were your superintendent without saying in your motion that the closed session or portion of it is to discuss the performance of the superintendent and similarly for other positions all right so are we voting now on the amendment not the the vote right now is on the amendment that ms basin has presented okay and so madam clerk if you'll call the roll bassin aye samson oh clanton nay jordan hi ralson hi martin aye okay so the amendment has been added

014to the executive session so now we'll just vote on the final motion as amended and so madam clerk vote on uh call the role please no yes just so be sure i understand the the vote was uh to approve the amendment that mrs bazine has requested well then the the motion now has to be amended to refer to the discussion of the performance and salary of the two that's exactly what i just said okay i i said the amendment passed and now we're going to vote on the executive session motion as amended but we're right but we need to add those two titles to the motion but now we've got to add the two titles yes okay and i do you want me to state what they are based on what i know from the

015discussions of the board okay one of them is discussion of the performance and salary of the clerk which is set for an appointment today and the other is a discussion of the performance i'm not sure if it was the intention to discuss the salary of the director of human resources mrs bazine indicates it is not to discuss the salary but just the performance okay and so now you have that and so if there's any additional discussion if not madam clerk would you call the role uh mr chair yes just just one item um since the issue was raised earlier about um concern about me having a conflict of interest over the closed session item i just like to say that the code session item that's being referred to as the the cases involving cheryl jordan

016and that i was called by by her attorneys to give a depositional declaration which i did in consultation with uh legal counsel from the from the school board and so i didn't want it to be out there that there's some or some perception among board members who may not be aware that what i believe the the issue was i don't believe i have a conflict of interest i wasn't told that i had a conflict of interest but because the issue was raised i wanted the board to be able to have the conversation as appropriate as i have done during my entire tenure here as a school board member so i just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of that thank you all right uh madame clerk if you can call the roll the scene

017aye hampson hi clanton aye jordan aye ralston aye martin hi okay yeah mr jordan i'll call you in as soon as i'm assuming that the attorneys are in the room yes and we're ready [Music] everyone i'd like to call this school board business meeting for june 20 june 15 2022 to order tanner please call the roll the c here camson campson okay oh i'm sorry uh clanton president gabriel president jordan here ralston here martin present okay can i um get a motion to adopt the business agenda we have to do we come out of closed session yet yeah she didn't come out oh i'm sorry i always do this i always forget to come out of closed session all right can i get a motion to come out of closed session i move madam chair

018and move to come out of closed session second thank you miss tanner a resolution certified an executive meeting of the school board of the city of norfolk in accordance with the provisions of the virginia freedom of information act whereas the school board of the city of norfolk has convened a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the virginia freedom of information act and whereas section 2.2-3712 of the code of virginia requires a certification by the school board of the city of norfolk the such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with virginia law now therefore it be resolved that the school board of the city of norfolk hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from an

019open meeting requirements by virginia law were discussed in the executive meeting to which this certification resolution applies and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the executive meeting were heard discussed or considered by the school board of the city of norfolk basin aye samson aye clanton before my vote i just want to make it clear that in the earlier resolution the word performance was utilized but that there was clarity around clarification of actions and so i will say aye gabriel i jordan i was for the portion of the closed session that i was present i vote i ralston aye martin aye okay thank you everyone um okay now can i get a motion to adopt the business agenda madam chairman we adopt the business agenda as presented oh excuse me

020with one correction in the consent agenda that we are removing candidate a that can't what he said second miss tanner just for clarification on the personnel docket under the consent agenda we are removing personnel a or employee a however you'd like to assign it okay okay and we have a second from dr gabriel okay i hamson hi clanton hi gabriel i jordan aye ralston aye martin aye and um up next is my pleasure to um ask miss karma johnson for the last time of this year to lead us in the pledge of allegiance so please stand to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you all right and up next we have our student

021recognitions miss tanner madam chair before i begin i just want to check and see if ayanna askew is here tonight okay we have some guests with us here from the council great city schools and also curriculum associates which we're going to hold on because hopefully while we're doing the student recognition she will come here so at this time i'd like to ask the board to come and the superintendent to come forward in front of the deus as we're going to recognize our students here tonight we uh we have more special student recognitions this evening as initially in may we desire to honor them during that board meeting on may 18th yet excitedly they're all here today to see you all here um to receive much deserved recognition from the school board so if the board

022can stand down in front of them i have dr martin here and then vice chair and then the superintendent and then you all follow suit mr daniel varner is going to be taking pictures for us it's just like old times yes finally we're back to recognize our students in person i'm going to get you guys to come down just a little closer so i can pass certificates to her yeah all right our first recipient is elliot bieber an 8th grader at academy for discovery at rosemont elliott bieber [Applause] [Music] elliot bieber sure his artwork was selected for the mps art magazine [Applause] next we have reagan fussell a blair middle school eighth grader who received first place in the norfolk sister city association's young artist showcase reagan [Applause] well our sweeties rsvp'd but that's okay

023i know we have jada johnson here she is a third grader against school and she won the guess the eggs in a basket contest for the norfolk public library [Applause] next we have august uh no calvin payne a third grader who was recognized for receiving third place in physical science category in the norfolk public school science fair okay did august higgins come in august higgins congratulations for being the top reader in the read with me at contest second grade i'll get school i'm sorry against school second grader all right next we have against school fourth grader sylvia bowers who was a top reader for me read with meak [Applause] it's tiffany fagan with the get pta here yes congratulations we're recognizing you for having special recognition for national pta for have an outstanding stem pta

024sponsor program and given a grant for a thousand dollars congratulations [Applause] next we have arby birch a granby elementary fourth grader who was selected for the fourth grade battle of the books team first place winners so is aubrey burch grayson gringham grayson bringham gideon jones i'm not sure women she's going to hand it to you congratulations just gideon jones is declan whitehead here yet okay and christopher stilley congratulations [Applause] next we have granby high school 11th grader tyler villafour who was recognized for receiving third place in impromptu speaking at the futures future business leaders of america state leadership conference and also granby high school 11th grader roger zing is roger zing here today roger roger zane okay well he was uh one as well for receiving third place in securities and investments at the future

025business leaders america state conference [Applause] next jaylen forest of ingleside elementary school was recognized for receiving second place in a prestigious gymnastic invitational elite compulsory qualifier all round competition [Applause] from ingleside elementary school rodney chance he's been recognized as a 2021 uyfl champion in 9u football and named defensive player of the game in track he is a two-time district champion and national champ in the shotput [Applause] next we have maury high school senior maya bird is my bird here tonight okay oh we're recognizing maya as a class 5 state champion in tennis in 2019 and [Applause] next we have more high school senior azaria cherry who's being recognized as a 2022 steam age essay contest winner awarded by the virginia council on women [Applause] awesome [Applause] next we have more high school senior nyla rivera

026morales awesome she is being recognized for the hampton roads youth volunteer of the year award [Applause] next from the norfolk norfolk technical center a senior nyasia wilkerson who's been recognized for first place in fashion construction in the fccla state competition [Applause] next jamie branch with norfolk norfolk technical center 10th grader we're being recognized for first place in the category of decorated cake for the fcc la state competition [Applause] next arabella alby with the norfolk technical center 11th grader is being recognized for winning the bronze for this culinary arts live with the fccla state competition [Applause] next we have kaniah carey with norfolk technical center 10th grader who's been recognized for winning first place in chicken fabrication with the fcc la state competition is kanaya here today [Applause] that's what it says that might be it

027next jada cephas with the norfolk technical center 10th grader is being recognized for first place in desert platter for the fcc state competition awesome conrad maloney also with norfolk technical center 11th grader he's been recognized for second place in fashion design in fcc la state competition [Applause] i know right norfolk technical center 12th grader kaylin bennett is being recognized for winning third place in fashion design for the fcc la competition is kayla kay lynn bennett here okay [Applause] next we have northside justice butts northside middle school 8th graders being recognized for being the winner of the spring poetry nationwide contest [Applause] i love okay what was the topic so you have a lot of poetry yes too much although most of my poems are dark okay and we have other eighth graders along with him

028for northside middle school for the spring sports contrast peyton echo bisho is peyton here peyton echo bisho and hopefully i apologize if i'm not pronouncing your name properly okay also next anjali madrano chavez angeli medrano chavez and kristen wells i know it's here same thing spring poetry contest nationwide and then another northside student who who is no longer with that tesla's glover she's no longer norfolk but she won as well okay also with northside middle school seventh grader raquan brock won second place for coastal virginia region 2021 2022 stock market game is rick won brock here tonight okay [Applause] the next person elise mooney who was also she took second place for coastal virginia region 2021 2022 stock game is elise mooney here tonight logan key is logan key here tonight okay same it was

029that group so congratulations to them next we have norview high school jv on branch i'm recognizing you for selection to the all-state course for base [Applause] also for all state we have aviana medina who was chosen for soprano too is aviana medina here tonight aviana okay let's recognize her get her hand clapping isaiah evans was recognized for all-state tenor isaiah's here yep right here congratulations to you thank you and skyler culp was recognized all-state course for soprano one [Applause] and sergeant christopher bertrand i'm trying to see is he here in the hallway sergeant christopher bertrand for norview high school i'm gonna read it all is he here okay it was with norview high school i thought he was going to be here tonight he's not here um the norview high school njrotc were recognized as

030distinguished unit with honors their norview jr njrotc marksmanship team eighth in the nation and the air rifle championship and the norview's njrotc drill academic and athletic team is 11th in the nation at navy national championship and the norview njrsc novice markmanship team second in orion new shooter league and it's between 71 schools nationwide so i'm sorry they could not be here tonight [Applause] and i understand we had some students that came here um tonight uh where is the three two boogerty washington high school young ladies are here for sports uh where did that little number and where's that notebook at someone took my notebook you want to introduce yourselves and tell them what you want uh first in the four by one in the region number one in the region [Applause] congratulations yes yes and

031where's that gentleman and congratulations to you sir we get you to recognize you and give us your name and what you've done um [Applause] awesome awesome awesome we thank you for your patience this is a lot of students we want to make sure that we recognize everyone who even showed up that we may not have known about because it's very important that the board gets an opportunity to hear what you've done in the community that was it oh i'm sorry ryan come on i'm sorry not that i'm not that's been brought to my attention okay yeah i see her yes okay you can go ahead and share your information my name is ryan harris i'm a senior i just graduated yesterday from granby high school [Applause] and i won the regional championship in whole wall

032the 1600 and 800 meters and i placed allstate all through those events as well [Applause] and what we want to do before we have our special guests recognize one of our students ayanna askew a high school graduate as of monday from boogerty washington high school on this day the 18th of well it's not the 18th of may but june 15th the members of the school board of the city of norfolk recognizes you as being a gate scholar recipient and for receiving scholarships from the life enrichment center fish university presidential scholar iota phi lambda sorority scholarship spelman college dovie johnson roundtree scholarship and hampton roads community foundation julia atwater bristow scholarship i utify lambda national scholarship congratulations for being a 2022 presidential scholar for the arts valedictorian class president and a 2021 hampton roads poet laureate

033ambassador congratulations [Applause] hmm i'm bored you may be seated congratulations congratulations to everyone yeah hold on let me go check real quick she's gonna make sure [Music] yeah we should probably get the call people see is this this year after you this is me great idea okay that was it dr martin for student recognition great thank you so much um next up next we have the student uh oh wait a minute oh i'm sorry dr martin we have a representative from the council of great city schools and two representatives from curriculum and associates who want to uh give a special recognition to our graduate of boogie washington high school ayanna askew so you're welcome to come to the podium thank you uh very much i hope ayata has stayed she did she's she's still here

034yeah what yeah because they were her parents right there great uh good evening and uh thank you very much for the opportunity to briefly address this board on behalf of our new executive director ray hart who was unable to join us tonight i want to recognize and thank rodney jordan the norfolk school board representative to the council of the great city schools who will soon be joining the council's executive committee and chairman birdsong the norfolk superintendent who is doing excellent work here in the school district and is a member of the council's board of directors thank you for your leadership i am michael casserly strategic advisor to the council of the great city schools the nation's primary coalition of large urban public school districts before assuming this role i was on the staff of the

035council for 44 years nearly 30 of them as its executive director and another 15 as its director of legislation and research before that as i stepped down from my role as executive director last year the organization's board of directors created an award and scholarship in my name that was meant to recognize individuals who had exhibited sustained leadership and courage in their work in march of this year the council of the great city schools named congressman bobby scott as the winner of this honor for 2022. congressman scott has been the chair of the education and labor committee of the u.s house of representatives for many years and has been a particularly strong advocate of public education especially public education in our great cities in addition to his leadership in reauthorizing the federal elementary and secondary education

036act and protecting funding to the nation's neediest urban school districts it was chairman scott's committee that was responsible for drafting and passing the american rescue plan funds that have assured fiscal stability for urban school systems during the pandemic and beyond he has shown courage and a sense of justice and equity in everything that he has done in congress and we are proud to call him a friend with this award comes a ten thousand dollar scholarship that is sponsored by the council of the great city schools and curriculum associates representing curriculum associates this evening is sonya coleman and shanika men smith who i will ask to say a word in a minute the office of chairman scott who we talked to just this morning who represents this district in congress has asked that we choose a

037student to receive this ten thousand dollar scholarship the council has decided to name a graduate of the norfolk public schools after careful deliberation the council of the great city schools is to is pleased to present this ten thousand dollar scholarship to ayanna askew who is graduating from booker t washington high school this year and plans to attend spelman college in atlanta this fall to study english let's ask you [Applause] this ask you was chosen because of her outstanding academic record and her willingness to use her considerable talents to speak out on the issues of the day with courage and a sense of justice and equity that i know would make congressman bobby scott proud her poetry in particular exhibits the kind of excellence courage and justice that this scholarship scholarship was meant to support i

038expect that we will hear much more from ayana in the years to come i am most pleased to have chosen ayanna askew as this year's recipient of this scholarship named in my honor she is most deserving and is an excellent example of the many talented and accomplished students that our nation's urban public schools produce finally i congratulate and thank ayana's family her teachers her school and the norfolk public school district for its excellent work in guiding and supporting miss askew on her road to the future thank you and with permission of the of the board i would like to ask sonia coleman to say a few words before we present ms askew with her scholarship sonia thank you dr cassily on behalf of curriculum associates we just want to say that we are so proud

039to be able to sponsor the dr mike casterly legacy award mike has dedicated his career over 44 years to working to ensure that students have equity opportunity and the resources that they need to be prepared for college and career and he has dedicated that through his work at the council of great city schools and other work we think that uh we're so proud of you ayanna and from what we know about you so far we know that the traits that you embody that the work you do is so reflective of that which dr cassily has done for so many years we know that you are just beginning your journey we encourage you to continue to use your voice for those who can't speak for themselves continue to use your words to uplift to inspire and

040to impact social change we're very proud of you and very happy to support you with this scholarship ayanna would you like to come up to the lectern [Applause] oh go ahead and do it again i would just like to say thank you for this tremendous honor when writing the different essays for my scholarships i have to say that i make sure that i pour myself into my essays so the members who are choosing the scholarship recipients kind of understand who i am and what i stand for and one thing that i would also like to say is i want to just continue to take opportunities like this and scholarships to honestly uplift other people i would definitely say that senior year has been a little bit harder than i expected there were ups and downs

041a lot of challenges and it's so easy to get into the cycle of rejection so when you apply for all of these national scholarships and then you make it to maybe the semi-finalist round and then they tell you no it's like wow okay so that's a no and then i remember earlier this year just getting three no's and one week and i got really discouraged and i started to compare myself to other people and so i got into a cycle of comparison and i just started to doubt myself and then when of course i was able to get the gate scholarship as well as like these other scholarships kind of coming in i definitely want to make sure that i use scholarships like these and opportunities to actually speak important to the students who are

042coming behind me who ask different questions about scholarships to make sure that they feel uplifted and that they don't fall into the same cycle of comparing themselves or thinking that they can't go as far as their potential allows them to so i would just like to just say thank you so much for the wonderful opportunity and honor of this scholarship congratulations uh ayanna we uh uh we had chipped down a big check uh that we were going to take a photo with but apparently you did not show up but truth of the matter is is that you could not cash that check it's just a big piece of cardboard so we brought you the real check for ten thousand dollars [Applause] oh that's beautiful [Applause] thank you madam chair that's the end of my conclusion

043of recognition of students okay that was a great program so up next we have our student school board representative and is our is siobhan here also okay okay we have miss karma johnson would you like to come to the lectern and share your prepared remarks thank you okay can you okay um wow that was hard to follow but congratulations ayanna i've known her since freshman year so to see you get something like that is amazing [Applause] and before you begin i i guess i just want to give a little introduction so um so karma was selected as our school board representative for this past school year and so what we've asked her to do is to provide some reflection of her experience with us okay so i it's been an emotional week i graduated monday

044i might cry so there's some kleenex up here if you need something good evening school board chair martin vice chair clanton school board members superintendent birdsong miss tanner members of administration tech crew who have always made sure our mics are on and working parents students and concerned citizens my name is karma johnson as as dr martin just said and i have been an mps student since i was in pre-k i can list off every educator who has touched my heart and mind since then i was lucky to have an amazing collective of human beings who have truly cared about their jobs and my education and who are willing to sit and listen to me talk their heads off in class so for that i am eternally grateful now i don't have to tell any of

045you this but oh what a year it has been whoever thought we'd have one like this with covid and masks and transitioning not to but back to in-person learning after a year and a half of online school however throughout this past academic year i had the honor of serving as the norfolk public schools school board student representative i am pleased to say that i have learned so much not only about politics but myself as a person and as a member of multiple communities i've learned that politics is a tricky thing and you can't and honestly won't make everyone happy 99.999 of the time i got a glimpse firsthand that the community cares immensely about what happens to them and the children they serve i was reminded that sometimes you may speak up about an issue

046you may believe you you may believe you only acknowledge but sorry guys okay but once you start talking you realize how many people agree with you i've learned that sometimes politics will keep you on this very 12th floor until 1 o'clock in the morning i have been reminded that sometimes you can't talk you must listen and ultimately that it takes a village to do absolutely anything and in and in politics it takes multiple villages thank you so much for choosing me to serve as the 2021-2022 school board student representative and i wish this district with like my whole heart the absolute best and the most success and i know that there are going to be so many greats after me who are going to make it even better so thank you guys so much for

047this opportunity i really appreciate it thank you i love all this focus on our students this is a great meeting good good going okay up next we have our superintendent's report dr bernstein go ahead thank you very much good evening madam chair martin vice chairman clanton members of the board staff and members of our community before we share our special video treat with you this evening i want to take a moment to congratulate the norfolk public schools class of 2022 once again [Applause] for the past two days we have been celebrating the graduation of our almost 600 high school seniors 1 600 fist bumps okay within the last couple of days and we are so so very proud of each and every one of our graduates our graduates have demonstrated a high level of determination

048flexibility and surely they have demonstrated resilience and we cannot wait to see what this class of 2022 will change this world they are definitely going to change this world these young men and women are just simply simply amazing the norfolk public schools class of 2022 they have been awarded awarded 60. i'm sorry dr birdsong i can't get it to stop these children these students these young men and women they are simply amazing they have been awarded 60 million dollars almost 60 million worth of scholarships clearly they're the best and certainly the scholarships will help their parents to finance their educations and so we are so very proud of them and certainly i would be remiss if i did not recognize our hard-working highly committed exceptional high school principals dr stallings mr schmiegel dr wade jenkins

049miss berg and dr brower additionally i have to recognize our extraordinary teachers and staff they have done such an amazing job this year and i am so so very pleased of the work that they've done for our children this year so again i want to say publicly thank you to our building level leaders thank you thank you to our classroom teachers and staff we really really appreciated all that you did so that we could bump this with those 1 600 children yesterday or young men and women and so now just to switch gears just a bit as i previously mentioned we have a special video treat for you this evening it's a bit longer than most of our videos but i think you'll be fine with it it reflects all of the hard work a

050lot of the hard work of our amazing students throughout the school year as well as our staff you'll also see that within the video it clearly demonstrates how we work to achieve our visionary goals of drive for five and just as a reminder those goals were to improve our students academic performance recruit and retain highly effective classroom teachers for our children improving our aging infrastructure developing and sustaining effective partnerships and fostering a division-wide culture of caring then the video will conclude with a very special tribute to members of the norfolk public schools family who have passed away within the most recent years we miss our colleagues tremendously we really do and we will never never forget the invaluable contributions that they have made to our students and to norfolk public schools so without further ado

051let's watch the video a year in review in the 2021-2022 school year norfolk public schools strive toward the grand vision of equity and excellence for all laid out in the drive for five let's pause for a brief look back at how much we accomplished toward these aspirational goals in the school year that just passed [Music] norfolk public schools students of all ages who were interested in art and music had a new option available to them over summer vacation the summer arts academy this free four-week program enabled students to choose four arts intensive classes to focus on daily thus exposing them to a wide variety of different art forms including visual arts strings chorus dance and theater despite not having full buildings for nearly a year and a half things at many of our schools went

052well on the first day at lake taylor school which is now a k-8 facility part of the excitement involved change from improved ways to keep everyone safe during meals in the cafeteria to students in new uniforms based on grade level almost everything was a little bit different sixth grader cameron white is not your average middle school student in addition to being part of the young scholars program at rosemont she is also a published author her first book coconut saves the day the coveted monster is about a little girl and the covid 19 pandemic despite losing her own grandfather to covid this young author artist and entrepreneur continues to share her encouraging message with others i wanted to give people hope and inspire people to dream big and never give up on your dreams booker t

053washington high school's academy of visual and performing arts now houses a brand new mac lab for their digital media program the lab consists of 20 workstations and the newest versions of adobe software oh they're excited i mean i hear gases of oh cool like throughout class and i think um the students are definitely really impressed with the opportunities they get now to create this high level of artwork i think having these tools available to them offer them lots of transferable skills that they can take into any kind of workplace enthusiastic students in grades three through seven participated in the 18th annual district science fair on the campus of old dominion university judges spoke individually with students in 3rd through 5th grades about their projects while 6th and 7th graders gave formal presentations to several judges

054at once on a wide variety of topics it's about canister bottle rockets and pressure building up with alka sets or tablets i like doing science fairs because i get to do experiments and stuff that are a lot of fun [Music] the first wednesday in february is national signing day around the country and mps had a couple of schools with ceremonies of their own at booker t washington two football players signed to play at the next level while at maury 11 student athletes signed eight from the football team one who will participate in women's crew and two members from the girls volleyball team track and field provided the district with a couple of state championships at the class 5 state meet norview's imani shaw took home the goal in the high jump the senior one with

055a leap of five feet six inches it feels great you know i've really been working for it this year um could have got it last year but it's okay because i got it this year and i'm gonna get it again for outdoor maurice carlson white also took home first place in the 55 meter dash with a time of 6.35 seconds along with teammates nadaria seleston michael mohammed and brian roscoe white took home a second title in the four by 200 meter relay congrats to the nordview girls basketball team for making it to the state semifinals winning the eastern district and knocking out eight-time defending state champion princess sand in the state quarterfinals were just some of the accomplishments this past season norview finished with a 20-6 record maury had both its football and boys basketball

056teams make it all the way to the class 5 state finals playing at old dominion the commodores took on undefeated stone bridge in a tight back and forth affair the commodores lost on the final play of the game the basketball team traveled to richmond to take on highland springs the commodores built a fourth quarter lead but couldn't hold it a last second free throw was the difference as mori lost by one [Music] after a year off from being in person 425 students in grades kindergarten through four return to camp einstein at crossroads school this four-week program is an enrichment camp that provides hands-on activities to highly motivated students that they normally wouldn't experience during the school year the most is that it's all it's all hands-on so they're actively engaged constantly throughout the day and

057they're doing things that they enjoy because the teachers wrote their curriculum so it's the teacher's passion and that comes through in the teaching and it draws the kids in makes them excited about coming in august over 225 first-year and veteran teachers new to norfolk public schools were ready to make a difference as they gathered at lake taylor high school for this year's new teacher institute this two-day event gave teachers new to nps vital information about the district and their roles as teachers first grade students in sabrina waheed's class at richard bowling elementary spend their days learning while they're moving in their dynamic seats ms waheed obtained these unique seats during the pandemic through online donations during the day her students enjoy using pedal desks ball chairs wobble stools and other dynamic seating which enables them

058to move around and focus on their classwork when you have a student that can't sit still all day that could be viewed as misbehavior when really that student just needs a way to release their energy so having these this dynamic seating keeps my students engaged because it gives them opportunity to release spurts of energy first grade students are learning in a whole new way this school year instead of having the traditional science english or math blog all their subject areas are now integrated it's just brought more energy into the classroom being that we're kind of changing the way we do things completely has made it fun and integrating everything doesn't seem like you're going okay now we're doing math now we're doing science now we're doing social studies we integrate it and the kids love

059it because it's so hands-on for the first time since the start of the pandemic a master teaching artist from the wolf trap institute for early learning for the arts was able to spend a week with students at coleman place elementary in the pre-k-4 class she used music movement and various types of sounds to keep these preschoolers engaged while they learned the story of the paperback princess yeah the students really love it and they're really excited for her to come and they really love singing and dancing and everything that goes along with the arts norfolk public schools celebrated teachers of the year from every school in the district during a special ceremony at the maine after the top 12 teachers were recognized the top elementary middle and high school teachers were called up on stage superintendent

060dr sharon birdsong created suspense by reading from the winner's nomination form before revealing sabhadra desiraju from norview high school to be the 2022 city-wide teacher of the year [Music] the school system is committed to improving our aging infrastructure by continually upgrading existing buildings to meet ever-changing educational needs our goals daily are to provide warm safe cool learning environments that are worthy of the students the teachers the administrators that work and learning them every day for this school year we had two large district initiatives for sanitization and coveted safety and the first one was to install water bottle filling stations in each one of our schools and we put multiple filling stations in each school and we performed that this year we also put in air scrubbers in our gymnasiums as well as our media centers

061and they can turn over large volumes of air we're currently renovating fairlawn elementary school to receive the easton students this fall that's another one of our major initiatives for this school year we're currently receiving the air conditioning units for sherwood forest mary calcott and rosemont as soon as those units are received and they're coming in slowly they will be installed on the roofs we're hoping to have all three of those schools completed by the end of the summer we just completed the roof at sherwood forest also at lake taylor high school we repaired the storm drain so the water would drain appropriately into the holding ponds we also repaved their back roadway as part of the storm drain repair we have completely replaced the parking lots lake taylor school willoughby elementary sewells point we replaced

062fifty percent of the parking lots at votetech we've also replaced all of the ventilators at willoughby elementary tidewater park elementary and saint helena elementary and these were our major initiatives from our 2021 cip plan [Music] career and technical education department partnered with the aviation institute of maintenance to give our middle school students the opportunity to attend the fly norfolk camp this unique program enabled students to learn about all aspects of the aviation industry on site from the institute's instructors through a variety of hands-on activities and guest speakers just to give them an opportunity to see a whole another career path for them because options are always a good thing this gives students from norfolk public school system an opportunity to be in a safe place learn and also have a lot of fun over 300

063middle school students at four different school sites took part in this year's big feed meet norfolk public schools partnered with special olympics for this unique event that enables students with special needs to participate in a variety of physical activities volunteers from old dominion university assisted students with each activity while their peer buddies that they've been paired up with cheered them on to victory nps juniors and seniors got an exclusive look into the historically black college and university experience at the miak college fair at chrysler hall eight colleges and universities from the mid-eastern athletic conference as well as representatives from various greek letter organizations were on hand to inform students about opportunities upon graduation students learned about different majors the schools had to offer campus life and could even receive on-site admission during spring break school

064nutrition welcomed parents and students to crossroads school where they debuted their brand new food truck the truck which was made possible through a grant by no kid hungry has a fully working kitchen and served made to order chicken wings for its opening over 200 free meals were handed out to children ages 18 and under and there were also giveaways along with a mobile produce stand on site granby high school held an official opening for their college and career center in december visitors from colleges the military and the norfolk sheriff's office were on hand to celebrate the occasion and to speak with students about their futures so i just got an on-site decision for the university of mary washington and i got accepted and offered a merit-based scholarship so that was good news coming here and

065like just being surrounded with people that were all willing to help you all the time it made it 10 times easier [Music] out of 200 poetry entries two nps students sharon chamul and bria harvey were selected to have their poems displayed around norfolk as part of norfolk arts poetry on the pavement project this project celebrates and acknowledges local poets in the city of norfolk norfolk public schools is currently providing free one-to-one online tutoring and homework help through fev tutor students in grades 3 through 12 can receive tutoring in math science social studies and english language arts norfolk public schools is working with vector solutions to make reporting bullying safety concerns and even kudos easy through an online app students parents and staff members can now anonymously send tips through a free phone app that's available

066through the apple store or google play mari high school orchestra students kicked off music in our schools month by welcoming singer songwriter and instrumentalist kishibashi to their school bashi whose real name is karu ishibashi is a 1994 graduate of mori and was in town to perform with the virginia symphony orchestra i like to perform at high schools and like i like to perform with students you know so i kind of bring my i kind of show them what i do and then i i answer their questions and i kind of encourage them to to believe in the power of music adapted physical education department in partnership with special olympics held their 13th annual little feed meet at sb ballard stadium over 450 elementary students with exceptional needs competed in various field day style events you

067know just being able to learn through sport and physical activity is important as well and because they you know it's fun for them but they are learning as well they're learning to teamwork they're learning to get along you know they're moving their bodies they're learning about health and fitness well i think the kids love it because they get to interact with other kids and uh and their loved ones the parents come out here and their grandparents like me get to come out here and ensure sharing some of the experience that they're having right now interacting with the other students norfolk public schools done a phenomenal job especially with these kids with special needs kids and i've often come into my grandson's school and it's always been a positive experience for me thanks for joining us

068we're already looking ahead to next school year when we will be continuing the drive toward equity and excellence for all [Music] so [Music] adam chair martin that concludes my report thank you very much dr birdsong it's been quite a year yes it has been okay up next we have our school board clerks report miss tanner yes madam chair the clerk's report notes one more observance from the month of may as we ensure recognition of our hard-working school nutrition employees for their dedication to feeding the minds of norfolk students in honor of national school lunch hero day on may 6 and we've given them a proclamation we salute them for nourishing the lives of our norfolk students and that ends my report thank you miss tanner um next we have citizens comments on agenda and non-agenda

069items how many people have signed up we have 19 speakers some called in but didn't check off so we're just going to call the names to make sure that they're here how many of them are on agenda topics a lot of them say non-agenda topics okay dirty or non-non-agenda non-agenda does anyone have children with them that's on there okay all right i can't tell if they have children with well i was just asking if anyone here had children with them but okay okay all right go ahead like i said we have 19 speakers today speakers have signed up for public comment before the start of today's business meeting when your name is called please come forward to the speaker's podium state your name and whether you have a child in norfolk public schools or if

070you are employed by the district one person is to speak at a time if you are representing a group state the group's name you may ask your group members to stand in place to be recognized speaking time is limited to three minutes a timer is set with an alarm that will signify the end of your speaking time state your position and give facts and other relevant data avoid saying anything that identifies students or personnel information about individual employees personnel disciplinary and confidential matters may be addressed to the school board directly via email at schoolboard mpsk12.com comments should be addressed to the board and not addressed to an individual member school board members do not respond to public comments at this time they are given any written statements or supporting material should be given to the

071clerk madam chair our first speaker for this evening is megan jacobson followed by charisma barrett okay thank you good evening everybody good evening dr birdsong and school board members i come to you today to ask when our children's education and safety will take a higher priority than your administer administrators and schools reputation i'm a parent of a pre-k student at granby elementary my son has an iep and is in the inclusion class his administrators have not made his safety a priority and refuse to file communication protocols that they themselves and the assistant director of learning support put in place my son or any child should be afraid to attend school he is afraid of a student to date he has had three incidents with all three resulted in physical harm to my son after the

072second incident where my son was tackled to the ground i had a meeting with this principal where she couldn't even tell me if my son had received an apology my response was how do you not know the response i was given was that they are working on social skills and that they do not discipline pre-k students with special needs i have never would never ask for another four or five-year-old to be suspended or expelled from school that's outrageous however what isn't outrageous is asking that my son has an administration who cares enough to at least assure that he's received an apology they were absent what isn't outrageous is asking for your child's assistant principal to answer phone calls and emails after your child has expressed concerns for his safety at only four years old what

073isn't outrageous is your child's administration to follow a proto communication protocol put in place to assure incidents and concerns regarding your child are being handled appropriately in my son's iep these concerns were addressed in meetings under his social emotional parent concern categories and it took three meetings the last one was in april i've been going back and forth with the assistant principal to get her side of the paperwork completed instead her way of handling it was for me to have for me to review it all and add statements after the fact then refuse to provide the documents and answer her emails despite communication protocols put in place i had to as a parent explain to her that a meeting request document isn't the same as a meeting summary document i had to edit dates times

074and comments made by her that were false throughout the entire process she put these false statements in multiple times in writing so the question is is she not trained to be handling iep meetings or does she just not care enough to be bothered the attitude and lack of competence that has been displayed this year for my from my son's administration is a disgrace and truly shows where the priorities of this district lie imagine having to explain to an administrator that is their responsibility to handle discipline even if it is just an apology imagine the people responsible for running your child's school need to be explained how to assure that your child will be safe at school imagine having to have the directors of a district department put in writing communication protocol just to make sure

075your child's administrators do their jobs and respond back to you as a parent just to have the administrators have such little respect not just for you as a parent but for the directors and completely ignore the protocol put in place the assistant principal has zero respect and accountability and it is evident by her actions and lack of action this year has been challenging for all school staff and i respect and appreciate all those who work tirelessly day in and day out to provide the best for my son and other children who attend norfolk public schools however the way your administrators at granby elementary carry themselves is unacceptable and sets the tone for anyone who has to encounter them in my house we live by the quote excuses or tools that lead to incompetence so i

076guess my question is is when are you going to stop making excuses for these administrators and prioritize them and what's best for our children next we have charisma barrett charisma charisma okay okay sarah gerloff good evening good evening i am here as a concerned mother i believe all god's children matter and all are of equal importance what i am seeing being taught in our schools across virginia and this country these days is very disturbing our children are so vulnerable and are experiencing severe trauma due to what is happening in our schools which are supposed to be safe spaces adults are supposed to be guide setting good examples but instead many adults within our school systems are setting bad examples for god's children recently parents have discovered many obscene books have been distributed to our schools

077for our children to see i did some research on obscenity laws and here's what i found quote the illegal act of exposing a minor to obscene images occurs through the visual representation of any depiction such as drawings photos images and video and even cartoons and paintings these images must show a minor some form of sexual activity rules of obscenity also cover written or spoken words that influence another end quote titles of some obscene books found throughout virginia schools include genderqueer lawn boy sold saga book series and the bluest eye these books contain illustrations and written detail of sex between boys and men oral and anal sex from multiple views young girls being raped by men masturbation orgies they are filled with pornography and pedophilia anyone interested in doing their own research go to booklooks.org this

078site contains ratings and descriptions of the books found in schools across virginia and this country through federal law it is illegal to transfer distribute trade or sell items of obscene material especially to minors so why is this evil being allowed to perpetuate i can tell you why sex trafficking has become a multi-billion dollar industry in 2018 the human trafficking institute released a report that ranked virginia sixth in the nation for active human trafficking cases one can look at the geographical location of hampton roads and begin to realize this area is a major hub for human trafficking container ships enter and exit hampton roads ports daily and the chesapeake bay is easy water access to six states washington dc and i-95 a major trafficking highway these obscene books in our schools are being used to desensitize

079our children to the immorality of pornography and pedophilia and make them more vulnerable to becoming sex trafficked victims anyone with a vulnerability is at greater risk of being trafficked god has charged us as adults with the duty of protecting the most precious and valuable and vulnerable martin luther king said quote we must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate rate with that system and thereby to become a participant in its evil end quote we must act now to stop this evil and save our children thank you next we have hope settle good evening good evening and thank you for allowing me to address my concerns my name is hope settle and i moved home to virginia last year after 16 years of teaching in galveston texas and oakland california to teach

080at jaycox elementary school where i had hoped to retire within the norfolk public school system i have been asked numerous times about why i made the decision to leave the business world to teach in fact upon coming home when people find out that i made the choice to teach at jaycox they look at me as i have as if i had lost my mind this evening i would like to share with you my why this is a brochure from 1923 that tells the history of the national association of negro college women it states that college women of the negro race were so numerous that banding them together for effective work was imperative both of my grandmothers were members of this esteemed organization my mother betty thompson settled followed in her mother's footsteps and taught in

081the richmond public school system until she was tragically taken from us my why has always been to continue the mission of my ancestors and uplift our children every year i teach i am blessed with opportunity to witness children in title 1 school districts in all great levels transform with a sense of purpose when given a lifeline that gives them the opportunity to see what they can become outside of their current situation when they focus on socialization techniques emotional regulation and their academics i have worked with parents who want the best for their children who understand what breaking the cycle of poverty in their family means who wants someone to listen to them with respect understanding and guidance who understand that it truly takes a village i have been able to work with open-minded teachers who

082are looking for methods of teaching children in high poverty areas how to walk with pride and to advocate for themselves in a way that allows them to be heard i have been able to model for closed-minded teachers who are challenged by new approaches and change their fixed mindset for the betterment of our children i have never questioned my why what i constantly question is the how how how are how am i and teachers like me going to continue to be able to inspire our children with project-based lessons when we are constantly testing them to no end depleting them of energy and spirit how and how am i and teachers like me going to continue to buy healthy snacks for our students spend money to create warm environments in which our students can learn and feel

083safe not to mention supplementing the pencil shortage when we struggle to make ends meet based on our current salary how am i in teachers like me going to be able to uh be around to serve as a trusted adult who can show our children how to use 21st century skills to change the trajectory of their lives and stem the flow of children who walk the blue line on the floors in our school straight to the blue lines on the floors and prisons the solution is simple allow us the opportunity to be heard allow us the opportunity to have a voice in how we teach our children in a way that addresses the sols that utilizes the creativity of the individual teacher to bring the rest of the world closer to norfolk and create a sense

084of inquiry and growth within each child that highlights their individual talents and allows them to shine provide us with the steps needed to increase our income to a dignified wage that matches our responsibility your time is up but i we hear you so thank you very much thank you for allowing me this time and i hope you consider my suggestions next we have michaela williamson michaela williamson good evening good evening i want to extend my appreciation for being heard tonight i am reppin i am a current norfolk public schools employee and i'm representing nft and i just want to say prepare for the mass exodus is norfolk public schools prepared for the massive teacher shortage that will occur in the fall i am relatively a new teacher i was hired in 2019 i love the

085staff school and students i work with but this compensation system you you are detrimentally holding on to will meet as consequence and i can no longer be a part of it i hear a lot of talk from teachers which ditch which district has the better options and many like myself have moved on to them many of these teachers i've talked i've talked to work within mps for less than five years so that led me to think it seems as if the newer teachers have less attachment to norfolk public schools and the passion the passion for the district is excuse me and the the deep passion for the district that's been cultivated is by the veteran teachers that are they're the ones that are staying because they've invested so much into mps so how long will

086that last how long will you bank on teachers signing and honestly an insult of a contract to dish out each year are you ready for nps to be a proverb to all the other districts under your watch thank you thank you [Applause] next we have trina washington and thank you for allowing me to speak to you once again about the custodial department i come here tonight to just um is so the spirits is so high in here from all the enjoyment so i'ma just continue to let it continue to be that the spirit continued behind please focus on the leadership and the custodial department the bullying with the custodial department the bullying with the area supervisors are not allowing the custodians to do what they supposed to do i have been in the system for

08717 years and 12 months as of august the 1st i will be retiring because of the custodial department it's not fair to us how hard we work in these buildings and we keep getting thrown down talked about ran over stabbed in the back it's not fair to us custodial building supervisors are leaving some has retired and some are leaving now we have to get it right it has to get right i have worked in many of schools i have had principals here i have had many awards and schools from having to clean this building and right now it's not right it's just not right people come to me they want me to say something they want me to talk they scared to address their opinions about how they're being treated it's not fair y'all please

088help us out get the leadership right starting from the top and y'all will have custodials when they interview people they need to bring it because the building supervisors in instead of the area supervisors they don't know what we do on a daily basis so i'm just asking y'all for your help to look in the custodial department i appreciate it thank you next we have patricia rubin good evening my name is patricia rubin and i'm a kindergarten teacher at little creek elementary school i've been with norfolk for over 21 years first let me say that we are appreciative that mps found a way to begin or continue the step correction process without another study going forward i would like to suggest that we keep five c's in mind clarity be transparent create a pay scale system

089that is simple enough that even educators with certifications training experience phd's masters and bachelor's degrees can understand and not be confused by consistency conformity in the application of policy and vision throughout the system for the sake of fairness congruency please let your private actions align with your public words continuity there should be a common thread or goal to reach successive administration so we don't have what appears to be a jumble of remnants from previous superintendents mixed with a current competing agenda and the final c is collective bargaining that ties all the rest together it is unfortunate that nps has shown itself to be less than reliable when addressing pay issues a collective bargaining agreement makes a legally binding contract that would provide clarity continuity congruency and could facilitate consistency when the time comes this or

090whatever school board we have should approve collective bargaining thank you [Applause] next we have melissa garmin good evening i'm melissa garman i'm an employee at granby elementary school sped km1 the discussion we heard regarding step decompression on january 1st i mean june 1st was promising i'm grateful that the money allotted in this year's budget to address step compression is actually going to nps employees and i appreciate that the board has shown interest in locating the additional 10.5 million necessary to intact and enact the entire decompression plan in one fiscal year versus four fiscal years that is truly the best course of action it is the only action that will send a direct message to teachers and other employees that norfolk is ready to make right the wrongs and mistakes of the past it is the

091first step in earning the confidence and faith of current employees especially those whose pay retirement and social security are due to suffer the most if they are not corrected additionally it is time for norfolk to establish a formal policy to ensure a one-to-one service-to-step progression credit the precedent has existed for some years now based on teachers who began their career at mps and have received a step movement every year since and before step compression occurred it is likely a previous precedent also existed even if our esteemed hr does not have a written policy it is time that norfolk move away from reactive business practices and leadership and into proactive bold business practices in leadership norfolk must be willing to make to move forward assertively to address projected teacher shortages not by hoarding monies to prepare

092for some enormous pay raise in 2025 but by making changes now that will set the district up to not only retain its current teachers but to recruit experienced teachers from other divisions i went through the pay scale and looked at all 10 month teacher employees in our pay raises and there was a comment that was made at the last that pay raises are indicate are an indication of the value of the person along that pay scale and i want you to know that the highest pay raises were given to those teachers who are in their first six years it increasingly decreased i mean it decreases steadily to where teachers are getting 3.35 and the ones closest to retirement are getting less than three percent of a pay raise per year per step if you truly

093and value your current employees and want to retain us consider the value you're showing when you create those pay scales thank you [Applause] fiona hinton followed by ayano williams good evening dr birdsong and members of the school board my name is kiana hinton i'm a member of the nft and currently a special education teacher in the district once again i'm standing before you due to working conditions because administrators believe they are above following rules what will it take for this district to start holding administrators accountable for their behavior daily i'm expected to enter the building and tolerate whatever behavior administrators give told were supposed to be here for the kids as a way to justify the distasteful behavior this year my right to confidentiality has been non-existent miss nicole griffin has recorded me several times

094without consent she's even bold enough to have colleagues listening in during meetings one time being careless and notifying the person on the other end of the phone to get this down i indeed got it down as well months ago a colleague listened in via phone while the nft represented me in a meeting recently she decided to stand in the hallway and discuss my concerns with colleagues who were not involved why is it okay for nicole griffin to record private conversations without consent why is she allowed to have another colleague listen in on meetings why is it okay to share confidential information excuse me with other employees maybe there's no confidentiality inside of nps why does she think she doesn't have to answer emails promptly because i didn't write my question on a sticky note as

095i usually do does a sticky note take precedence over emails and mps now but maybe she doesn't want to leave any more paper trail of her soiled behavior why is she allowed to embellish and manipulate situations with her title to cover herself when she's wrong why is she never held accountable for this behavior but after two years of being under this supervision i should expect nothing less the real question is who sanctioned this behavior in nps perhaps administrators are governed by a different set of standards standards that say they do not need to have character or integrity standards that declare they can be passive aggressive dismissive and engaged in unethical and inappropriate behavior perhaps she has immunity from having to respect the individual she's supposed to be leading whatever the case it contradicts nps being

096the cornerstone of education standards just as students deserve quality educators teachers and staff deserve quality administrators standing before us how can she lead a building up professionals when she doesn't govern herself accordingly when holding her accountable i'm now disrespectful in a problem yet as a subordinate i'm expected to engross myself with a person whose demeanor is contemptuous and disingenuous is this really the excellence for all that mps proudly proclaims once again thank you for your time thank you ayanna williams rakita robinson once again something's going to be handed to you to help me out did you need something i good evening dr martin school board members dr birdsong my name is rakita robinson i am a teacher at richard bowling elementary school this evening i am here as a teacher who was offered a continuing

097contract that i'm still awaiting some documentation from human resources to support my claims to the rate of pay since 2013 in norfolk public schools so that i can confidently sign on for another year believing its accuracy is indeed your policy see as a new hire to mps in november of 2013 i was not given credit for my 22 years of teaching experience at that time i wasn't retirement focused and didn't recognize that i was being shafted out of nine steps towards my pension as i look at the 2022-2023 teacher pay scale as a veteran teacher of 30 years now being offered a continuing contract at step 19 i am behind eleven steps towards a fair full retirement rate for the experience and expertise i bring to work every day this difference in pay according to

098our most recent salary scale is eighteen thousand two hundred and seventy dollars i seek the internal operation of teacher salary scale document from 2013 from from the 2013 to understand how it eludes paying teachers for their full expertise i seek to better understand the formula used to determine teachers are not deserving of credit for their years of specializing in their fields you can see the 22-step document which was introduced by mr calhoun in a previous school board meeting where i've circled the 22 years i brought in 2013 they're offering step 17 and i recognize that it's not retroactive but you can see the discrepancy how can nps ever catch up with what is owed to deserving teachers who someday would like to retire at a fair competitive rate without adopting a one-to-one pay scale it

099is a selfless act to choose teaching as a career good teachers are essential to the progress of our nation it is imperative that every student has access to diverse and well-prepared educators at the end of this school year many exiting mps teachers chose not to come here tonight or to share their why instead they adopted the motto we can show you better than we can tell you they will not return to mps in the fall mps has an opportunity to fix this egregious wrong and stop this mass exodus of our teachers to surrounding districts and other professions we need board members that support collective bargaining to give teachers the right to bargain and make them part of the solution that is what is happening in places that are moving forward when teachers have a voice

100and agency students and teachers and their work thrive please see the documents provided to you to see where as a 30-year veteran teacher who has asked year after year to take on senior duties falls and where she sits now at being offered step 19. can you answer my why i cannot thank you pastor veronica thomas if i wasn't here at the school board i would say it's time to pray just listening at what has gone forth i am veronica martin thomas i'm pastor of first united presbyterian church 745 east 29th street norfolk virginia i'm also president of let's make a difference it's an organization that works with faith-based and community organizations that care about our community that's the bottom line and i'm here today because we have taken an initiative to disband school to prison

101pipeline and so we want you to know and i hope you already know that in 2021 a senate do3 prevents students from being charged with disorderly conduct during school or buses or school-sponsored event also senate bill 729 removes a requirement that school principals report students acts that constitute a misdemeanor to law enforcement these are acts that may be may be considered misdemeanors such as assault on school property and schooling including on a bus or a school punch event why is this so important why did mckellen why did she decide that we needed to take care of this because it was sown that in virginia we led the nation in nearly three times the rate of referrals of students to law enforcement what our plans to change this in june 2019 ruffner had 32 percent in

102school suspension out of school suspension on the street i hear that all schools do not have in-school suspension that means if they're suspended out of school they are not getting instructions they are not getting what they need what are we going to do about this let's make a difference we have decided in our zero four that's us we're concerned about those schools we picked up tidewater elementary young's paw jaycock linwood and ruffin we wanted booker t they haven't given us the approval yet to go in what we were told by dr white that's my person right there that we need to not be concerned about just tutoring we need to love on the teachers we need to appreciate the teachers so this year every student in these five schools thank you did you say my

103time is up yes all right thank you so much but we going in those schools and we're making a difference hallelujah thank you all right [Applause] next we have merle rutledge jr merle rutless jr hello my name is merrill rutledge junior i'm going to change that if you'd like if it's more the um lectern there's a button on the side if it's more comfortable for you this isn't about so much democrat or republican that the news i got which shakes me to the core is the safety of our children and our teachers and making sure our families have comfort at home to know that the kids is going to get off the bus and come to them safely my good friend ann bertello over there would you like to stand up and be recognized she

104let me know that anybody and everybody could go into our schools and pull off another taxes it's inexcusable for people not to check out who is coming into our schools we have uber drivers that register sex offenders we have numerous rideshare programs that normally would be called for people to go out to get drink at a bar instead they are showing up at our schools ready to pick up our children and put them in danger and what do we do we wait until a new story come out do we weigh into texas for another strong 12 in virginia beach we must act now and those who knew about this you might as well resign period we can't afford another mistake how we care about children and their families and our teachers that's what's being reflected

105right now in this room i'm telling everybody in this room don't be scared to speak if you gotta get fired speak the reason is because dr martin luther king was worried about dying every single day not just for black people or white people but for all people to speak speak their mind continue to speak truth whether you like it or not i'm asking you from the school board don't cut people off at three minutes because y'all have enough time to screw up these schools to the point that they need a lifetime hallelujah came from that pastor because you took god out instead allow the devil to come in and i'm not scared to bring it up because my faith is more important than your sensibilities so i pray for each and every one of you

106to start doing what's right for our teachers and for our schools and the families will back you up because it's a community they say a village to raise a child it takes this whole world for a child to see we are better than this so protect our schools protect our families protect everybody's right to speak and if you decide to fire one teacher or the fact that they told you the truth then i guess the devil is a lie patrick berry [Applause] patrick berry [Applause] what was the name patrick berry good evening dr martin mr clanton dr birdsong and other school board members my name is patrick berry i have been honored to serve as the secretary treasurer of the education association of norfolk for the last school year i've just finished my third year

107here at norfolk public schools although this is the end of my ninth year in education having previously taught brunswick county public schools for six years i'm one of the amazing social studies teachers at northview middle school as a history teacher we teach our students to become active and productive participants in the experiment that we call american democracy we also teach them the importance of learning from the past thus avoiding repeating mistakes that others have done while there is still more to do we wanted to thank the administration for their efforts to rectify the damages done when the great recession hit with their plan to put everyone on their correct step however the increase in insurance premiums may negate many of the gains that have come from these pay increases we feel that if funds are

108available please look into taking a little more of the burden off your employees and absorb some of the insurance premium increase this way the pay increases from the steps and readjustment of the pay scale actually make it worth staying with norfolk public schools thank you [Applause] next we have john williams good evening dr berson board chair vice chair members of the board everybody in attendance i come to you today this is my last school board meeting as an employee and i came for it to say something different but i need a piggy bank off of miss washington trina washington as being a building supervisor and i understand what she's saying because many of the building supervisors is leaving i'm leaving not by choice but i'm leaving as of the end of this month but um

109it's true that leadership in the custodial department is terrible and we had a company here years ago their leadership was terrible and this leadership as we came back on board is worser than the leadership that left because it comes a time when you're a leader we don't need bosses i'm a building supervisor i've never been a boss i've been a leader and what i do is good every teacher that knows me every principal that knows me know that i always kept a clean building a safe working environment and everybody knew that i was a bulldog that i got things done i didn't sit back and let things be mishaps but it's true that leadership have to be put in check because they don't know how to talk to people they um just outright mean to

110people they talks down to people and then not i've been out of school for a little while because i've been hurt but i've been in quite a few schools since i've been out and i tell you the condition of them schools my school would never be in a condition like the schools is and they're in that condition because of human resource they do the hiring for the custodial subs and the entry-level custodians and their requirement one of the requirements that they have a high school diploma and a year of customer service and i tell you to sweep a floor take out trash and mop a floor you don't need a high school diploma and that's just that's why the custodial staff don't have two years ago i met with dr burson i asked dr berson

111to um get the custodians and the maintenance department then leave time don't take it from them because you know people can't take off if they take off then the schools ain't being clean so i'm gonna ask once more that y'all consider not taking their leave time once more because many of them can't take off the work because if they take off y'all won't have no clean building and y'all need to support the custodial staff more and support the maintenance department thank you hire more people all right thank you next we have vicky greco good evening my name is vicky manugo greco i'm an nps and ptsa parent lake taylor graduate former nps special educator and nps board advisory committee volunteer first i'd like to give my deepest appreciation to our nps students and class of

1122022 graduates teachers support staff custodial staff our bus drivers school nutrition staff school nurses paraprofessionals administrators school board and everyone in this village of norfolk for their prevailing with positive persistence through this challenging school year i wholeheartedly agree now more than ever with the late great champion arthur ashe when he once encouraged start where you are use what you have do what you can and from where i stand i'll also add take deep breaths rest up and have some fun after a job well done with that said as this year's co-chair of the norfolk gifted education advisory committee to the board on behalf of the g-ac we respectfully submit our 2022 annual report which is our summary of the work we accomplished this academic year as volunteer committee as a volunteer committee of parents and

113educators the giac has worked both virtually and in person this year to evaluate and report to the board critical evidence-based recommendations regarding gifted identification equitable representation of students and strengthened communications we are heartened to welcome a large group of new members for the coming year a number of whom have already attended and participated in our zoom and in-person meetings with this intentional addition of new and diverse voices at the table the gac is thankful that our full membership for the coming academic year better reflects our student population and our school communities this gratitude extends to the planned implementation with fidelity of the 2022-2027 local gifted plan that significantly broadens access to gifted and talented educational programming to our young students from underrepresented backgrounds and experiences across the district it is energizing to be at this

114critical point of renewal for our students and schools as nps further commits to more equitable and accessible gifted and talented instruction and enrichment for our kids we are also encouraged by the inception of the divisions continuing the drive excellence and equity for all five-year strategic planning process underscored by the shared accountability of the nps governance and strategic planning information implementation teams in the collaborative work needed to identify aspirational measurable long-term goals that ensure more inclusive growth in a student in student achievement outcomes we stakeholders look forward to future updates with that i'll end here and ask all of you to please read the complete giac annual report that was sent electronically to school board members dr birdsong dr pohl mr brady and miss stead thank you for your commitment and service to our students and

115school community next we have amber taylor [Music] i'm amber taylor i'm the uber eats driver they got into granby elementary school no questions asked i pressed the doorbell they buzzed me in nada how are you how may i help you who are you with why are you here let me tell you about a door dash driver in virginia currently that i have his rap sheet as well from henrico convicted guilty plea juvenile prostitution ring would you just let him in the school too because you knew who he was coming my son isn't in your schools yet my son is three when this was brought to the superintendent's office and i've got emails to prove it i've got your proof i've got parent statements i'm not the mom that's gonna back down from this your job

116is to keep our kids safe if you can't do it we can find somebody who can five of you are up for reelection this year what about the fourth grader who's smoking pot in the bathroom at an elementary school the only person from this school board that wrote me back all of you got my email i've got it it's right here the only person that wrote me back was miss tanya i'm sorry that i've mispronounced your last name i'm not even going to try she wrote me back she wanted more information miss camps him she wrote me back i'm going to pass this to the superintendents like i didn't talk to them dr martin no email no email from y'all neither mr rodney jordan he was the only one that said i am accountable this

117was one day after the texas school shooting have y'all lost y'all's minds i was closer to a child than i am this woman right next to me i did a fifa freedom of information act for the video it was denied of course i already knew it was i already consulted with a lawyer about it i've stayed at home for three years to protect my child do you think i won't do it for the rest of his life i shouldn't have to be a stay-at-home mom i have worked in the medical field i could have been helping save people during covid if y'all could take care of our schools but y'all can't be trusted with our schools so make up your mind about what you're gonna do because that's unacceptable absolutely unacceptable i have parent statements

118across the board you want to see it you got my phone number you got my email address because you got my information thank you [Applause] our final speaker for this evening is barrett hicks i didn't know what you needed oh good evening lord good seeing you guys and i want to just say uh congratulations to the young lady because the young lady ayanna ayanna advocacy well that's what we're talking about tonight advocacy i've been coming to this these board meetings about 12 years as far as for school i know most of you have had conversation with you wow people are finally getting it they're not afraid to speak up i want to say congratulations to all the grads when i started out 12 years ago was because of my cousin had had some problems and

119her her dad asked me to come she just graduated walked across the stage as an undergraduate from norview that's what advocacy looks like making a stand difference also on behalf of parents talking about this year we had at least two parents that reached out to me so i know it's more in reference to their children not having an education or a full-time teacher for over half of the school year these parents received the letter around april telling them that their children would possibly be retained and then a reversal of some sort saying well no we're going to pass them on passing them on is not good enough these parents need and have asked me to ask you to provide these children with tutors to get them up to par not just the passing grade and

120these are not parents as you guys like to tell me that these parents don't care no it's not not that they don't care they don't know they don't understand the processes a sad story as to what you guys allow to happen within these schools it truly is again i often times come in and talk about south side stem academy again eighth or lower than all schools in the state of virginia academically saint elena number two from the bottom of all schools and the state of virginia both of them are in the two three five two three south side berkeley campus double what are we going to change that dynamic when you guys you guys got the money you always told me before we don't have the money we can't do it we're trying to do

121things we need some immediate attention within those schools but again my last few minutes is a reference to her i went to a board meeting on behalf of a child that had been suspended have been suspended for almost 50 days different times with 30 of those days after he'd already did the time overturned guys we've got to do better you cannot let a child stay home without some form of instruction thank you [Applause] this concludes our speakers for this evening [Applause] is that it okay thank you miss tanner okay can i get a motion to approve the consent agenda with the amended personnel report it's after comment yeah can i get a motion to approve the consent agenda with the amended personnel report please dr martin i move that we approve the consent agenda with

122the amended personnel report thank you dr gabriel seconded by mr clanton miss tanner please call the question basin hi gamson aye clanton hi gabriel okay i jordan mr jordan stepped out okay he he just walked out can you just go ahead on okay rylson aye martin aye okay thank you is he for is he here for the vlog oh he says i okay hi okay sorry we didn't hear you i couldn't hear so i had to shut the door oh okay thank you um up next we have our decision and discussion agenda the monthly financial report good evening mr jenkins good evening chair martin mr clanton dr birdsong members of the board i will talk to you this evening about the may financial report this covers the 11 months for the fiscal year that started

123july 1. during the period we collected 303.7 million dollars of general fund revenue that was 85.6 percent of our budget during the same period in the previous two years we collected between 86.7 and 87 and a half so collections are down just a little from the previous years on page three uh there are two graphs one for revenue and then one for spending for the current and two previous years the monthly budget appears in the green background on page four of the highlights we provide a graph of revenue and spending for the current fiscal year by the end of may we had spent or encumbered 306.3 million or 86 percent of our budget the revenue was 303.7 in the previous few year uh previous two years our spending range between 84 and 85 percent so

124this year we're just a little above on the spending if you refer to page 15 there are several budget transfers that exceed fifty thousand dollars uh five in total um with for five hundred and twenty one thousand dr martin that con concludes my comments if you have any questions thank you mr jenkins any questions from the diocese go ahead mr jordan and then miss the scene um i'd like to start with the transfers on page 15 where it appears to me that once again we are transferring resources from the classroom for other areas so i have a few questions regarding that so on uh item 1217 um 86 000 from classroom teachers to equipment replacements and the justification says purchase eight portable light towers for athletics at high schools can you speak to that a

125little bit more i can speak a bit towards to that we bought some light towers so that students can practice in the evenings sometimes it's uh it's it's dark as they finish their athletic practice so the light towers were purchased so that they could complete their practice as the evenings get darker i don't know if you were around at the time but there was a time when the school board was having discussions about later start times and issues came up about portable light towers are you familiar with that at all i am somewhat familiar i was aware that there was that was considered here as it has been in other places yes sir so in the can you describe the decision-making process of uh removing funding from classroom instruction classroom teachers to athletics to deal

126with eight portable light towers and how the discussion takes place in terms of who ultimately signs off on the transfer and how it impacts student outcomes and classroom instruction in that decision making process i i cannot i think i can help somewhat on that these transfers are only made possible because there were vacancies in classroom instruction uh had there had the positions been filled we would not have been able to do this this was considered a higher priority it's something that was submitted by our athletic athletic department it was approved by dr birdsong and we we have gone forth with that okay so then generally speaking then as these transfers make their way up for approval as you're just describing that in this particular case we had vacancies in theory we are um budgeting classroom

127teachers to help students so it would have been certainly our preference to have had teachers but because we had vacancies we um we addressed height the highest priorities um that weren't funded in the budget so i think that there's a i think the board needs to have a deeper discussion of how we can ensure that the priority and smart goals that that we should have if we don't have that prioritizes um classroom instruction and and student achievement this is concerning i've raised this at meeting after meeting and it just seems to continue without much of a clear impact being provided on student outcomes in student achievement then my next question is can you give me a sense of based upon this report where we are with unexpended funds for the year i as i've said

128before i can't tell you specifically for in the non-salary areas the um purchase purchases of supplies contracts and uh things of that nature um as far as wages and benefits we are very close to the amount that we need in order to cover the revenue shortage and a couple of other of the priorities that dr birdsong has identified for year in spending but we are we're pretty much at the tipping point when you say revenue shortage what are you referring to well we have fewer students and of course their state funding is based on the number of students that are enrolled in our schools so we i we will have a reduction here we will have less state revenue coming to us than we had budgeted this year i've mentioned this a couple of times

129before but our revenue is down we'll be down i don't have it uh it's not committed to memory but i think it's about 4 million or so so we will need to cover um that revenue shortage um no sir i don't have it with me so that's part of it and then there were a couple of transfers this this being one so we're very close close to we're close to the minimum amount that we need i mean uh there was um the uh they bought the board collectively agreed to commit three million dollars of surplus uh from the year so we are pretty near that point you're talking about in the budget that we submitted to council um for the capital proposal that we we that the board approved back in march yeah so this

130this brings up a point again that uh so yesterday during the the graduation um i overheard a conversation and i was dealing with when when the board would receive um an update on on the budget so that we could begin to take action uh i think there is great confusion around uh the budget process and what gets submitted and this is the i'm sorry i'm addressing my colleagues in my tenure on the school board and i think even years as an observer i don't ever recall this amount of time going past from the time that the council takes action to the board receiving an update on the impact of that of that action and um i'm deeply concerned that um that we're not on top of it i don't think as a board we really

131know what's happening and it's it's very very disappointing to to hear this month after month with the idea that perhaps the board is just a bit player in in all of this um the three million dollars is being referred to um you know i know what we submitted based upon what we thought but it's it's even more concerning to me that it sounds like we're almost planning for having three million dollars to deal with one thing when we don't really have clarity around um where how our students are and how they are performing and so i'm going to be voting against this again but i would like at some point if the board could please get an update on the council action and also what the schedule is going to be for the board to

132have adequate discussion about the budget and when we will take action and not get it all jammed in the same meeting so thank you for answering my questions but i just want to state again that you know when i first got on the board i used to ask questions like this around title one and title two and uh and also got opaque responses and then we ended up having millions of dollars of of losses and i feel that if we're not careful we're going to find ourselves in a similar situation where the classroom is going to be negatively impacted and so i just want to raise that for the board and for the governor's team that for us to be at the end of the year in june and not have one update on the

133action that the council has taken on the proposed budget is is deeply concerning and i think very irresponsible on our part thank you go ahead mrseen thank you dr martin um well i had some several of the similar questions as mr jordan and i to share um his sentiments around our board discussion planning timeline so that we can arrive at a final budget and i've expressed that i've also sent if i could just briefly mention we're waiting for governor uh yonkan to approve the budget we expect that'll be very soon at that point the department of that will tell us exactly how that will interpret that for us so i don't think we're far away from that that we're we're very close but we need the governor's approval before we can before i know exactly

134what our budget is right and i understand that and i've heard that in pr previous occasions where that question has been raised um but again i don't think that it precludes us from having a discussion around our priorities and what shifts we may make especially we also haven't discussed you know our school board budget you know there's there are items that we haven't discussed at all um which i don't think that we should um you know be waiting to to have that discussion also so um i'm i too am very concerned about that um like mr jordan i had questions about the budget transfers i'm not going to i heard your responses the one thing i would like to elaborate on is the transfer for related to the purchase of eight portable light towers while

135i agree with mr jordan on the sense that um you know resources may be taken away from instruction if you were to tell me or the administration were to tell me that we are reconsidering the start time changes because that has a direct impact on student achievement and student well-being you know that would be i think a different conversation um but that's not what i'm hearing is that correct this was made because it was needed by the athletic group i don't i can't say that it wouldn't help if you were to do that but um this was in this decision was independent of the start times okay okay mr jenkins i heard you say that the um money used for the light towers came from unfilled positions is that correct that is correct okay so

136exactly i think the statement that it took away it came from instruction isn't exactly well i'd like to clarify that yeah so so what what i see it could be used for could be retention bonuses which i know we're doing some but there are groups that may be left out that we might be able to do more with so i think you know when we're talking about um focusing on classroom instruction on our teachers i think this is another pot of money that could be used toward that effort so that's what i speaking for myself that's what i'm referring to um but um i too like mr jordan will be will not be supporting the monthly financial report i am supporting it um so thank you very much for this report because i can see

137how we are able to do both we're able to support our needs of our athletics as well as our needs in the classroom as well as take very fiscally responsible steps toward improving the pay of our teachers and staff so thank you all for your work in that any other comments i do madam chair i don't want to belabor um the evening but i do believe that this discussion requires some balance and opinion um i think mr jenkins has definitely expressed um my understanding is that the request that we submitted to council was fully funded correct so we know what the budget was because this board has taken action and had discussion and had a vote on the budget that was submitted to council so if it's been fully funded and i think what we're

138waiting on right now which are right we're in unprecedented time we have a governor who who literally almost 30 bills sent back from that were bipartisan that has tied up the the budget we're normally never at this point where we don't know what the budget's going to look like it would be irresponsible to come back here to make amendments and not know what the state's going to do and i think that's what i'm hearing from you mr jenkins and respect that we don't know what the funding level is going to be we don't know exactly what it is sir we we have a very good idea of we have an idea it's getting close which meaning that our attendance which is what the state uses to to our average daily um attendance right this is

139how we get something to get funding from the city we get funding but i think that it's unfair to say we haven't had a full discussion about it and that we're not paying attention to this um i just want to say to you um and for the staff that here that works in your department to put this budget together we appreciate that you you that takes a lot of time and a lot of energy not everyone on this board um doesn't think that we're not taking the necessary steps okay so i just want to publicly say that thank you for doing that because we have we've had discussion about it majority rules and the respect so if we all don't agree on it it's fine but one thing that we're supposed to learn as a

140board from governance is that whatever the will of the board is is that we're supposed to coalesce around that but what i'm hearing today um is that in some sense that we're not doing we're being we're not doing we're supposed to do with the board that's not necessarily the case and i appreciate that well we need to pay attention to that but when we also go back to budget transfers budget transfers have been going on this board and through this administration for over 10 years but there's been this trigger if it's more than 50 000 we get it reported back to the board here and if there's extra additional revenue left over we're able to take those things to handle other things that are going on but we take care of the core thing which

141is what's happening in the classroom so i just don't want this perception to be placed out there that there's something arrived being taken care of or going on in the administration this stuff has been here and i know that some members of this board have been in 10 years of plus and you've seen it so i don't agree with the fact that we're not paying attention to it and we haven't had a discussion you all have been very forthright and the presentations in my opinion which have been brought to this we've had discussion on it maybe some folks want more discussion on it but i'm sorry i'm not about all this talk we got to take action and take votes and so that's what i have been supportive of and and you know i'm just

142there needs to be some balance to what's been placed out here this evening that's all i've got to say madam to you yes go ahead um whether the city council fully funds over funds under funds the board has to be able to make decisions with information my comments that i turned and spoke to the board has a responsibility in the budget process the board throughout the budget process has the responsibility to be updated so some of these same discussions were raised uh with the one meeting that we did have about the budget when when this is the first time and i can remember when we didn't have two public hearings so yes budget transfers occur often and some of us that have been here ask questions about budget transfers all the time that we're up

143here what's different now from the board's perspective in my view as an individual board member is we said we're going to focus our efforts around improving student achievement when i see budget transfers coming out of classroom instruction it's a concern for me when i read our human resources reports and i see vacancies in classrooms i'm all happy that we have allocated funding but to suggest that somehow we are fortunate that we have a vacant position that we approved with the idea that that was to support student achievement is not something to cheer about it's not something to celebrate and even as the board did have even as we did submit our proposal to council what i'm saying to the board is and as many board members have requested an update it's just that it's an

144update it is a process by which the board can find out now what the impact is on the city council's actions even as we consider to receive updates on estate actions it doesn't mean that you have to have a vote on it it's called information so that when we do have a voting discussion we are prepared to do so and that was the sense of my comments and i appreciate all that my colleagues have said but as a board member my request has been to the board leadership to schedule time for the board to get an update on the budget as we know it today in particular after the council's actions individual board members having discussions is fine but we are bored as a whole we have these discussions in public and so in order

145for to ensure that the board as a whole has the same information at the same time and and can be prepared that's why we have work sessions and workshops and updates that's what i was referring to thank you i don't want to preliminate just clarify all right the transfer are they all classroom instruction i believe only one of them was classroom instruction one position was classroom instruction and the rest were from where let me look real quickly because i don't want the misconception being that we're taking away from the classroom please clarify that for me it's not a mystery because you said it twice now please clarify it from the staff please there um the one for the for the athletic towers was from uh from classroom instruction there was a second for music supplies

146and equipment that was partly from classroom instruction uh but the the primary one was the athletics it's absolutely athletics thank you okay miss um tanner please call the question let's see hey gamson aye clanton aye gabriel aye all right thank you everyone um up next we have our superintendent designees for the school year 2022-23 madam chair martin vice chair clanton members of the board on an annual basis i am required to as superintendent of schools to ask that you authorize designees for me in the in the um if i'm absent or have to be on leave for for whatever reason to sign reports and things of that nature and this evening i am requesting or recommending to you that dr james poll chief academic officer and dr lannell gibson chief schools officer serve as my

147designees during the 2022-2023 school year thank you dr birdsong can i can i get a motion to accept dr birdsong's um recommendations for her school year 23 designees madam charm for that we accept second thank you miss tanner please call the question missing aye hampson aye lantern aye gabriel aye jordan aye ralston aye martin aye thank you everyone and next we have our appointment and interim contract for our school board clerk can i get a motion to accept the school board clerk's interim contract madam chair i move that we accept the superintendent's recommendation for appointment and interim contract for the school board clerk second thank you mr clanton and ms kampson any discussion okay go ahead mrs miss tanner sorry aye hampson aye clanton aye gabriel aye jordan aye rylson aye martin aye okay well

148everyone i know you've had a long several days and i just want to thank you for um for all of your work to support our students as they cross that final mile across the stage and also the awards for today and all the work you're doing for our district so thank you very much you