School Board Hybrid Work Session/Business Meeting (6-17-20)

001good afternoon everyone thank you for joining us this is our last meeting for the academic calendar year we'll start with our certification of the meeting okay every public body shall give notice of the date time and location of its meetings other than special emergency or continued meetings at least three working days in advance by posting such notice on its official public government website if any placing such notice in a prominent public location at which notice is a regular post 'add in placing such notice at the office of the clerk of the public body or in the case of a public body that has no clerk at the office of the chief administrator reasonable notice under the circumstances of special emergency or continued meeting shall be given contemporaneously with the notice provided to the members of

002the policy body conducting the meeting this Tanner has today's school board meeting been properly certified yes madam chair on December 27 2019 notice was provided fulfilling all criteria VA Code Chapter 37 thank you very much miss Tanner I'd really call this meeting to order again welcome to everyone and also for documentation for our minutes along with the certification there we have outlined and our board Doc's why we are having the meeting again via virtual zoom due to the pandemic noted through the governor's order and those will be again documented in our minutes next item on the agenda roll call item 1.03 miss Tanner seen here okay cam see here Clanton president Jordan here Martin will be joining momentarily myth yeah Abram here thank you at this time everyone we have two items that have been

003brought to my attention that I would like to allow the board to amend the agenda for this evening two items that dr. birdsong won one of the items that dr. birdsong would like to bring to our attention and after she shares us information with you I would like to have a just a consensus without objection to amend the agenda to add the items that she has brought forward dr. birdsong good afternoon dr. Gabriel mr. Clinton and members of the school board thank you for allowing me to make our recommended addition to this afternoon's agenda as you may be aware yesterday governor Ralph Northam announced that he will make Friday June the 19th widely known as Juneteenth an official state holiday is my recommendation that Norfolk public schools align its current academic calendar with the governor's

004decision and our employees be allowed to observe this day as a holiday it is critical that we recognize the significance of this day as you are aware Norfolk public school strives to make a quality excellence equity of reality in our day-to-day operations Juneteenth commemorates June 19 1865 when news finally reached african-americans and Galveston Texas that President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation free the enslaved living in Confederate States half years earlier the Emancipation Proclamation which had become official On January the 1st 1863 had little impact on Texas due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the executive order therefore african-americans in Texas remained enslaved for approximately two and a half years after this executive order and that was unconscionable I believe that the employees of Norfolk public schools would like to observe

005this profound moment in history as their counterparts at the state level will do therefore I am extremely pleased to event this recommendation once again thank you for allowing me that privilege thank you dr. birdsong if there is no objection then I would like to amend the agenda without any objection for this matter and it will be added on at the end of the agenda noted right after we do our vote for the public I'm sorry for the personnel docket the other item that is has been brought to my attention by mr. Clinton is the vsba resolution on racial awareness in our education system mr. Clinton thank you dr. Gabriel on June 9th the Virginia School Board Association sent out to its member aniseh school boards across the Commonwealth an anti-racism resolution and encourage each board

006to take it up for consideration and adoption and so I'm asking that we amend the agenda to include an adoption of the presented resolution regarding anti racism and that we add that to the agenda thank you again members I apologize for this notification however dr. Burt songs matter was very time sensitive and late-breaking and I do believe that the resolution through the dsba is also timely as well is there any objection to amending the agenda no objection by the question okay so I'd like to know if we can also add matters of the board to the agenda as well dr. gator I personally don't have an objection just long as the time that we've had set for the agenda is an exhaustive we serve time I have no objection okay does anybody else have an

007opinion on this aye I second that of that request okay so what we'll go ahead and do is we will add I know matters of the board at the end of the meeting as long as our time has not been exhausted thank you now dr. Burt song I do believe that you have some opening comments I do thank you again good afternoon dr. Gabriel mr. Clanton members of the school board and members of our community I hope that you're another frame of mind to celebrate this afternoon as you know Friday June 12 come on the very last day of school for all students and what had to be the most historic and life-changing year in recent history there were no dismissal bells ringing no sounds of school buses starting up for the very last trip

008home and most meaningful Mele there was an absence of the happy excited voices of children eager to start their summer vacation and yet let's switch our paradigm for just a minute and concentrate not on what we couldn't do or what couldn't be but on what we were able to accomplish this year a trust that all board members watched our five high school graduations online which by the way garnered about 11,000 views we had approximately 1663 seniors from the remarkable class of 2020 who graduated and I'm pleased to note that this class received a total of 77 point four million dollars and scholarship offers so I'll say that once more seventy seven point four million dollars in scholarship offers we miss the vibrant cheers of my graduates in their ecstatic family members joyously celebrating at the

009trackway arena but I'm certain that many homes across Norfolk were filled with families and friends who were passionately celebrating these individual milestones in addition to the virtual graduation ceremonies that the school division hosts that each high school also hosted graduation events that were extremely well intended and provided students an opportunity to be presented their high school diplomas from their very own building principals these celebrations were quite touching and our parents and guardians really appreciate it being able to participate in these school-based events hopefully you've seen some of our national or our social media posts about these events they offered students one more chance to celebrate with their families and to connect meaningfully with their teachers administrators and fellow students I can tell you that a love for all was was definitely in the air and

010speaking of graduations on this past Friday drive-by celebrations were held for the graduates of open campus and as you are aware our students who participated in the open campus program to a different path toward graduation rather than the traditional high school experience there was a total of 12 graduates from open campus in the class of 2020 we captured some photos of their joy on the MPS social media channels while the virtual traditional graduations took center stage let's not forget that our students who participated in the open campus program also worked extremely hard to obtain their high school diplomas so in this very public venue I say congratulations to our open campus campus graduates and best wishes to them as they embark upon the next chapter of their lives and if next chapters go as board

011members and community members you are all aware that there's some significant ones ahead of us on Tuesday of last week governor Ralph Northam and the Virginia Department of Education issued guidelines a safe return to school for students for the 2020 2021 school year the governor informed us that social distancing will be in effect in the way face coverings will be highly encouraged for students as developmentally appropriate of course and required for staff when they are not able to maintain the six feet of physical distancing certainly transportation for students will look tremendously different when we open the fall in accordance with guidance from the CDC to maintain six feet of physical distancing between students on school buses so prior to the governor's announcement the MPS administration had been working to develop a variety of options for

012students for students scheduling and other logistical matters and anticipation of the flexibility that the pandemic will continue to require of us as I share with you in a recent newsletter on Monday of this week the options that are being considered limit the number of students who will be physically attending school on any one day to ensure strict social distancing when schools reopen students may attend school on an alternating and/or staggered schedule on designated days and/or timeframes when students are not physically in school remote learning options will certainly need to be in place to maintain the continuity of learning and instruction so rest assured the administration will not make decisions in a vacuum in fact we will be implementing surveys of families so we can gain their valuable input regarding what a blended schedule of in-school

013and remote instruction should look like these data will be back vital to us as we work to finalize our operational plans parents and guardians will receive links to the surveys later this week via email there will be elementary middle and high school versions of the surveys so this means that parents and guardians with children at multiple school levels will need to fill out more than one survey so we're asking our families to have a little patience with us on this front it's important that we have data for each level because parents and guardians may feel differently regarding schedules for their elementary age children than they do for their older children and we need to understand what the preferred options are for each school level so we are respectfully asking our parents and guardians to please

014complete the survey upon receipt it is vitally important that we hear from our families for peanuts and guardians who prefer to have paper copies of the surveys they will be available at each school site so we're asking these parents and guardians to make contact with their child's principal to secure our hard copies of the survey an ongoing communication has been important throughout this pandemic and it will remain to be critical because of the groundbreaking nature of next school year our families and staff will be hearing more from us over the summer than has traditionally to traditionally been the case and on that note of communication we will keep the school board updated on elements of our operational plans prior to submission to the Virginia Department of Education please know we welcome the opportunity to hear

015your great ideas and we'll of course endeavor to answer questions you may have along the way however it just says I've asked of our families on for the patience I need to prevail on the school board for patience as well we do need the courtesy of adequate time to tackle the Devils in the details before we begin building more questions placed with a high level of specificity for example bus transportation will drive truly excuse the pun many of our resulting logistics the domino effect will be immense workgroups will be assigned to several areas for efficiency sake and effective collaboration in the area of problem-solving it's going to be critically important so that said we're committed to working quickly but thoroughly and there will be there will not be long periods of silence silence I can

016assure you of that so please stay tuned for additional information regarding our logistical plans and finally for your invaluable support and guidance throughout the 2019 2020 school year and during the unprecedented time of the closure of schools I can say with confidence that this year has truly been the most interesting exciting and challenging year of my professional career of almost 28 years and I want to thank you for giving us the room to get the job done the benefit of questions and suggestions that helped us to refine our practices and decisions and for serving as a voice of reason and reassurance for your constituents my staff and I look forward to working for you and with you during the 2020 2021 school year in service for our children as they deserve our very best efforts

017always so thank you dr. Gabriel that concludes my remarks thank you very much dr. Burton that was extremely comprehensive we will now move ahead with our business meeting item 2.01 adoption of the title one two three and four budgets there is a vote required can I have a motion on the floor for the adoption of the title one two three and four budgets I'm sure I'm for the adoption you know the title one two three and four budgets as presenter okay is there a second miss Campton has seconded thank you very much is there any further discussion we will open discussion for two minutes if discussion is needed yes okay mr. Jordan and I'm not exactly sure what just happened with my alright Karen hold on a second okay all right mr. Jordan please proceed

018yes so I just have a first question for dr. birdsong in looking through the documents are they all the same as as we had at the previous meeting I thought I may have seen some changes in the title too are they are they the same changes were made I'm not aware of any changes that were me yeah we there were some changes made you title to they were just more of a grammar and just kind of making sure going through them with a fine-tooth comb and making sure that everything looked looked appropriate yeah it looked like it was more amplified for me in some of the areas and I was just gonna say would have been its is helpful if we get stuff like that rate online so we can see the differences but I

019just I saw those entitled to and I wasn't quite sure I saw them in the others and I just wanted to verify that it's just a title to one they had amplification is that cool yeah correct that's a different application from years before there were multiple changes to that application so we just wanted to make sure we had all the information for Virginia's arm of Education so they would be able to prove that important mr. Jordan I'll make sure that that's made clear I was not aware the changes I certainly would have apprised the board of that thank you especially for content changes thank you miss Bhasin are on each application if you would like for them to be voted on separately we can tease them out we can my intention was to vote on

020them collectively but if you have an objection we can vote on each one individually okay no one entitled you done separately please okay all right so madam chair I don't have an objection and moving those two out it would be a different motion but in order to stay within our time limit I am going to keep an eye on our time that is expressed during the discussion portion okay is there anything else missing no I articulated some of my questions and concerns and for detail questions and concerns as you know that were sent via email and in review of what has been posted I didn't see you no substantive changes to the applications which is leading me to my decision to to not vote in support the application for title 1 and title to okay

021I expressed that too so all right any other members wishing to speak on the vote before we take it okay so what we like to go ahead and do that I want to make sure I'm seeing everybody here miss Tanner are you good with the timer yes Megan is controlled at a timer yeah okay all right all right okay and I see a doe all right so what I like to do then is have a vote first on the one budget so we're having a motion madam chair I said I didn't have an objection with so we would just vote on three and four together to separately okay that sounds fine all right so miss Tanner if you could please call the role for the budgets for the title grants three and four yes but

022see we're doing title three and four right now right correct okay I am planting you call Jordan yes thank you so mr. Klein if isn't correct procedure if I have a motion on the floor to adopt a title one budget I've already made so we're just doing the affirmative already we're just taking the actual vote in any discussion additional in one or two okay all right is there any further discussion then for title 1 and title - okay hey miss tanner please call the roll the thing nay camps and yes Glanton background someone needs to mute probably [Music] muted unmute yourself it's not me but okay Jordan me Martin Martin said yes okay you know the motion carries hey Jack because we did hear I from Adele he did give a thumbs kind of raise

023hand is that okay I know we can't with the disturbance a weekend L we just need a yay or nay on the motion yes okay okay okay all right next item then item 2.0 to the monthly financial report dr. birdsong good afternoon again dr. Gabriel as the board members are aware I provided to them in advance financials for March and April and then today mrs. Ingram is is here with us and she will be providing you an overview of these budgets as well as she's prepared to answer in questions that you will have along with miss cow so miss Ingram without further ado please that's new dr. birdsong dr. Gabriel mr. Clanton and school board members now I do have what's posted on board Doc's is three monthly statements so my question is whether you

024want me to read the each of the statements and then there are questions at the end or do you only want certain ones read miss Ingram if you wouldn't mind just highlighting um each one and then we can take questions per month we do that okay okay pretty much like I do regularly yes ma'am okay thank you buddy miss tanner if you want to pull them up I'll be reading the first report which is the period eight which is February 29th and basically the revenue received as the end of February was two hundred and eight million dollars or sixty one point two percent of our total budget and it compares to 61.1% for the same time period last year and sixty one point three percent for fiscal year 2018 and then on the expenditure side

025we expended two hundred and six point nine million dollars or sixty point eight percent of our budget and that compares to 58.5% for the same time period in fiscal year 2019 56.9% for fiscal year 2018 and there's also a summary of budget transfers there were greater than $50,000 then of course behind that is just another presentation of showing you the revenue expenses with some explanation of varys's for the period of February then going to the period of March which is period nine revenue received at the end of March was two hundred twenty-eight point five million dollars or 67 point one percent of the total budget which compares to 72.1% for the same time period in fiscal year 2019 and 70.6% for 2018 encumbrances were two hundred and two hundred 1.5 million dollars or 65 for

026one percent of the budget which compared to sixty eight point nine percent for fiscal year 2019 and sixty eight point three percent for fiscal year 2018 and we also had a summary of budget transfers during this time period there was fifty thousand dollars or greater then if we move on to miss Tanner the April thirtieth financial statements at at the end of April we had received two hundred and sixty six point two million dollars or seventy eight point two percent of the total budget and that compared to seventy nine point nine percent for the same time period in 2019 and seventy eight point four percent in fiscal year 2018 if we move to the second page expenditures was two hundred and sixty two point eight million dollars or seventy seven point two percent of our

027total budget and that compared to seventy seven point eight percent for the same time period in 2019 and seventy five point nine percent in fiscal year 2018 we also had for that time period a listing of budget transfers there were fifty thousand or greater for the month of April and then for the month ending May 31st which we just finished revenue received was two hundred and ninety five point three million dollars or eighty six point seven percent of the total budget which compared to eighty seven point nine percent for the same time period in 2019 and eighty eight point seven percent in 2018 and the second page expenditures and incumbrances told two hundred and eighty eight point two million dollars or eighty four point six percent of the total budget which compared to eighty six

028point five percent for the same time period in 2019 and eighty five point five percent in 2018 and we also had attached to that a summary of budget transfers that was done during the month of May that's the high level what's in the financial statements and I can obtain any questions you may have thank you very much miss Ingram we will begin with questions Miss Smith so what impact has Kovach 19 had on our funding when we look at the revenue it seems like the revenue is still coming in at the same rate as if there wasn't the payment but we're seeing it on the expense side because it's finishers as they should be are significantly less can you talk about the impact that is having on us if any from both a revenue and

029expenditure perspective and is the revenue portion of it just delayed the end again we'll see that our actual revenue is significantly less than budgeted because of Cobra 19 you follow what I'm asking yes ma'am okay okay I'm going to start with first with the state revenue at the reconvene session of the General Assembly a decision was made that they were going to pretty much hold us harmless or give us our money for direct entitlements the difference here in the state revenue will come in the form of lottery money and sales tax there are we expecting less sales taxes to be received on the months of May and June yeah I will also like to share with you that we receive our sales tax money a two-month delay we receive let's take for instance in May

030were actually sales tax receipts for the month of March so we have received mais receipts which is for the month of March which was approximately three million dollars now we should be getting some information this week or next week what we will receive for the month of June which will be April sales so that is what we really have to monitor is just to see how much money we will be receiving in the month we were actually received June sales in the month of August but we have to accrue that back to this fiscal year the other unknown is lottery monies they're not certain as to whether lottery funds will be coming in as projected so what they will be doing it they will be prorating the per-pupil dollar amount for lottery money should the

031funds they'll not meet what they are predicting it and here again we will not know that number until a little later in this month so outside of those two unknowns the rest of the sale of the state money is going to be pretty much intact we just don't know what the final number will be for lottery and the final receipts for sales tax city revenue we have received all of our city contribution and federal revenue we're expecting it to be down maybe a hundred and thirteen thousand dollars right now we are still looking and projecting what the indirect cost will be from the grant side so right now like said we could be down anywhere from four to seven million dollars in revenue due to sales tax and lotteries I thank you very much miss

032Ingram the impact so are we expecting to under execute our budget over executed or is it too difficult to determine at this time we will be on the expenditure side we will be having less expenditures because you know no matter what our budget is we cannot spend any more than the revenue we actually receive so what we have is we have certain savings that we have accumulated this year to offset the reduction in revenue for instance we have approximately 250 positions vacant for this attributed to approximately 13 million dollars in savings also in April the 10th we instituted a discretionary spending freeze we suspended travel because of the pandemic so we saw some savings there also with the school closure we are seeing some savings and our utilities the fuel for not running the buses

033every day we're seeing some savings there and also in program 510 which is our extra curriculum where typically we do a lot of Sol remediation and preparations we are seeing savings there in some savings and summer school as well so overall we will be having less expenditures what we have tracked so far with pandemic when it started we set up a special code in my account stream to capture those costs that's due to the pandemic yeah not everything has been coated there but what has been coated there so far is approximately one hundred and forty two point six thousand dollars to cover such things as you know printing for the packs that we've had some transportation and helping with the meals and paying extra employees that when the first guy started you know everyone got

034their regular salary then plus if they actually did some work they got extra for working during that time period so right now we're projecting that we will be in I think pretty good shape at the end of this school year where you know expenditures will come in less than the revenue that we will be receiving okay Miss Smith hold on we're gonna move on to another individual because we have definitely exhausted our time and if we have time we can possibly come back or someone can yield your time but I know I see miss 15 and I also see miss camps and and I am having difficulty viewing the timer from my viewpoint so I'm I'm just trying to be courteous to everybody make sure they get equal time so go miss the scene and

035then miss camps in' miss bosina mute thank you I had sent a couple of questions general questions ahead of the meeting so that you had a heads up on some of my questions so Miss Smith had talked about some of the over execution and my questions were specific to those areas and items that exceeded a hundred percent and in some cases you know well over a hundred percent and largely it looks like you know it's related to tech technology non equipment is that am i understanding the the overages and percentage used in those areas correctly that they are related to our response to virtual learning and other areas due to the pandemic yes what happened in those instances I think you probably see it in April and in May yes and in the technology it

036was in the initiative to purchase technology equipment to assist with virtual learning well what has transpired in the month of June since we have us access to the cares Act funding you know the additional 12.8 mean I believe in funding those expenditures are being moved to the grant here's EXO when you see your June financial statements those expenditures would be back to normal okay though their expenses were done to get the invoices I mean the purchase orders in through the vendors such that we can get them in a timely fashion and then when the money was available for us we just moved the couch the code change code okay so then is this on top of the the use of our current inventory so I believe previously when asked if we were using her current

037inventory this isn't it in addition to our current inventory is that current is this additional purchases purchases okay and then there were some areas where I didn't quite understand overages which was around travel travel meals and lodging registration and furniture replacements does that okay the furniture replacement one is related to the lake Taylor school k-8 project as a redesign of the media center so that is associated with that piece okay in the meals and lodging there were maybe some line items that may have overspent but like I said earlier when we instituted the freeze money was pulled back out of department's budget that perhaps there were credit-card charges that had not hit yet so you may see where there is a negative in smaller amounts but if you look at the larger scale we did

038see savings and travels on all three of the child was account because travel was suspended okay all right thank you mm-hmm miss camp go ahead thank you um I thank you miss Ingram for giving us the information about the city and the state money I have looking through the granite things I know this is only through March 31st but a lot of it couldn't be spent after that and I wonder if the if the these federal grants especially the tile grants where they are not the going to be at the 90 percent that they need to be by September what are we doing about that or are we getting some extra leeway there there was some flexibility with title money especially that they did not have to meet the eighty-five percent and with the 15

039percent carryover so there is flexibility for those grants so we're okay that's not a case yes ma'am thank you you're welcome okay are there any other questions before we move to have a motion on the floor to adopt the monthly financial reports yes in following the the monthly statements and still trying to understand if we took any yeah kosher measures in our 2020 budget can you explain you mentioned earlier that we were looking at thirteen million dollars in savings from dispositions that are vacant I thought at one point we were projecting from the City Council that we would have some budget gap for eight million dollars not sure what it is can you explain did we and do we have a budget gap in 2020 and if do and if so how we how we

040filled it okay it's my understanding I listen to the presentation as well that there what would have been a funding gap with fourth quarter it is looking at the numbers and here again I have not been in the conversation it appears that they have well I look at the numbers they have given us our full allocation for 20/20 but if you notice in your 2021 budget there is a reduction of eight million dollars in local contribution so it's possible the decision was made first to leave us hold for the school year and then deduct this year what would have been a reduction this year take the full impact in 2021 okay can you offer any clarity on that please yes I believe they will still be looking at and I think I shared with this

041this with you a couple of meetings and ago most likely they are going to try to keep us hold this year and there's may have to be some changes next year yes if we can get just clarity around that because confusing to me whether or not we had a gap and filled it opener or or not so I think it'd be helpful to get that in writing thank you thank you very much okay what I'd like to do is have a motion on the floor to adopt the monthly financial reports as presented and this would include March April and May and you know let me just take a step back for a second um miss Ingram you had discussed February but all I see on board ox is March April May and June please may

042i I don't mean to cross you if you look at what's posted on board that's the we had posted February's record for the March meeting but the March meeting was canceled right right so so when you see it's in March that is for the February reports April is for the March records thank you thank you okay so that everybody is good and clear on that okay so motion on the floor then for the adoption of the March April and May financial reports as presented I move that we adopt the March April and May budgets as presented thank you is there a second budgets our financial report they are financial reports sorry okay I just wanted clarity so I'm second okay any further discussion yes I have some okay mr. Jordan you will have two minutes

043yeah at some point I like for if you all could explain what the rules are in terms of these timers because so I can just follow that cuz we never had a chance to discuss those but just generally speaking follow-up sorry miss camps them but I just don't know the rules but generally speaking I'm still I still have some concerns I expressed this during the budget process that not really having a full understanding of where we are in terms of the current fiscal year and any gaps that we said that we filled and nutrition savings that we had from positions that are vacant and then how that then translated into savings that we are utilizing for the budget that we approved for 2021 so I still have some clarity there and I just hope that

044we can get some clarity is hard for me to follow what we're receiving in the monthly financial reports in June and follow what we were presented and voted on in terms of the budget for 21 thank you thank you mr. Jordan Miss Smith yes my time would not have my time did not allow the first time but that's exactly where I was going with my questions I'd like to understand the same thing basically mr. Jordan used to turn gaps and I'm not certain what the proper term is but I'd like to know what will be how any excess for dish here yes and it will be applied to next year's budget or if it's already been done it helps us to understand how resources will be or can be utilized for for next year's operations

045so I don't have that clear picture at all okay thank you very much okay miss Tanner if you could please call the roll yes the scene I camps in Clanton Jordan okay Martin I know Gabriel I thank you the motion carries next time on the agenda is item 2.03 the resolution of locally awarded verified credits and there is a vote required I would like to go ahead and turn this over to Attorney cloud I mean dr. burns Tom you know the meeting before that mr. Jordan mr. Jordan I'm sorry mr. cloud an attorney cloud presented the board with a resolution that was passed related to the pandemic and policies and regulations and so we've had a discussion with the board about that and so under the advisement of attorney cloud we have presented to you

046a resolution that kind of speaks to locally awarded verified credits and so mr. cloud has been working on that and he will be presenting that resolution mr. cloud thank you so much you the resolution is is what I sent to the board on May 13th along with the memo describing the details of it and why going forward with it in summary it it replaces a possible amendment to the policy which is pi k AF Z instead making changes that the video II recommended just in this resolution and I drafted the resolution and made that determination after looking at the video YZ webpage on this their guidelines which I think had been part of the agenda and also talking to the V SBA's attorney they did not recommend amending this or any other policy in connection

047with quavers however because of some of the issues the video we've raised I thought it would be better to just go ahead and offer this resolution that includes language that the video we suggested should in the I'm sorry I'm not sure what that sound was that should be incorporated for those boards that already had a policy in existence which Norfolk does and if you look at sections 3 and 4 of the resolution those incorporate language from the guidelines and essentially it's it's just I did it out of abundance of caution and all likelihood the initial waiver of of all policies to the extent that the state or federal governments or their agencies have waived those requirements would likely cover this but this just gives the board a specific resolution referencing the policy and the video

048we advise on it I've also started numbering these resolutions so we can keep track of them or future reference if if issues come up where they have to be referred to as time goes forward I'll be happy to answer any question Thank You mr. cloud okay mr. Doran thank you I was I'm you're moving the screen around and I'm trying to look at my document the same time I didn't think the timer came in until he got into the discussion the resolution was it was hard for me to follow in the second paragraph the second whereas where it says the vsba does not make recommend making amendments to in its policies or their associated regulations I'm not that I don't think that's correct vsba as I understand it does policies not regulation so I don't

049think that's correct and then where it has as a result of the temporary waivers granted by the Commonwealth is that a clarifier for regulations or is that meant as a clarifier for policies and regulations well on your first point regulations wouldn't change unless the policies change and my statement with regard the vsba was based on lengthy conversations with the policy attorney Elizabeth Ewing on the second point as far as regulations go I included in this essentially the board telling the superintendent that she could go forward and make whatever changes the waiver requires to her regulations rather than have her make them and then later have to report them to the board yes I mean I followed with the VSP attorney as well especially on the regulations piece and I think that it was confirmed for

050me that VSP AE is dealing with the policies as we know we received from them often and not the regulations piece so I would recommend that the board consider clarifying that paragraph for mr. cloud you helping the board to clarify that paragraph where it addresses associated regulations because even going back and reading the resolution that we addressed in in May I don't I don't think that piece was there and then my last question is in terms of the monitoring of the policy itself so I know you mentioned where the video a recommendation was that a that language be placed inside of the policy itself mainly I think so that if a member of the public went to our policy manual and looked at the policy they would be able to see what we're doing in

051terms of this current school year the next current school year if we have it in this form of the resolution only then how would how was somebody who was be able to note or understand the impact of what we're doing dr. Gabriel I'll go ahead and respond to mr. Jordan if that's okay yes you can respond to mr. Jordan then I'll have a follow-up item okay I can be very brief I'm happy to amend the resolution of the resolution in any fashion that a majority of the board asks for I don't think the amendments are necessary the resolution itself is of course a public document available to the public and as opposed to currently in the agenda Thank You mr. Cobb mr. Clanton yeah my my comments are directly related to the statement that mr.

052Jordan made and I've been reading I was - listening to you're trying to comprehend where you were going with it and when I read this the SBA does not have does not recommend making amendments to any of its policies and they do give us policies or their associated regulations and regulations are located at the locality with the local school board when I read that I read their policy that's been sent to us as a recommendation that we may have implemented however we have associated regulations at the local level so don't make any changes to their policies that they sent to us or the regulations that we have here at the local level so based on that hearing and then kind of comprehension for myself I don't think that we need to make an amendment to

053the resolution that's being presented I think that it's it's saying exactly what it needs to say right unless I hear a motion to amend the the resolution then we are going to proceed with the roll call okay mr. Tanner please proceed with the roll call it's the scene Hey I say that one more time hey can you hear me I can hear you clear now I need to do two camera Hampson Clanton aye Jordon Martin Smith Ebru I'm the motion carries thank you next item on the agenda is 2.04 resolution of employee accumulation of annual leave mr. cloud and mr. Billups mr. Billups do you want to make the presentation and then I can answer any legal questions school board chairman dr. Gabriel vice chair mr. Clayton and school board members good evening well you

054have before you this afternoon is a resolution regarding employee vacation limits each year what happens is any employee who accumulates annually who acumen has more than 200 hours left on the books what is the time that's left over gets converted for every two days that they had on vacation it gets converted back to one day of sick leave this year what we're proposing since employees we were on telework status since March what what we've recognized is that many employees basically ceased taking any vacation time or reporting any vacation time so in work equipment working closely with mr. Bailey what we realized is that as of June 5th which was the last day in which vacation accruals were posted we had 840 employees who were entitled to vacation and three origin and five of them were

055currently over there to two-year limit so as a gesture what we are proposing is that instead of converting employees vacation time this year over the 200 hours to the to the two days of vacation for one every for one day of sick what we're proposing because of the limitations of the of the pandemic on individuals taking vacation time we're proposing that for the upcoming school year 2021 that we don't take you know any vacation time from them and just allow allow them to continue to accumulate that time and then next year for the 2122 school year return back to the the provision in which the vacation time is converted back over for any hours over 200 mr. Billups Miss Smith mr. Phillips what are the budget implications of that this decision basically it by going

056back by accumulating into the sick leave basically individuals only get sick leave once they actually retire and then because the vacation time is is taken over the not all at once anyway it's just taken whenever whenever individuals decide to take it so its spread out I don't know the actual numbers what it would be but it's of course spread out over the time that an individual would actually take vacation mr. Billups can I just ask you a couple questions just to kind of explain this I believe that what happens when the cap is imposed which as I understand it will be July 1 if the policy isn't waive the accumulated annual leave that is above the limit is not purely lost it is rolled over into sick leave is that correct it's rolled over into

057sick leave but it's rolled over and what in what is called a two for one for every every day of every two days of vacation would be converted to one day of sick leave thank you okay any other questions miss beseen this this resolution similar to what mr. Jordan raised in the locally verified credits resolution I I also object to that portion of the resolution which uses the same language regarding the policies and their associated regulations especially if this this policy may be in effect throughout the next school year and possibly into the subsequent school year okay I could just add on that the regulation regulation more or less mirrors the language of the policy with regard to the cap so if the regulation is not weighed in the employees will lose their accumulated leave

058according to the rule of two for one as mr. Billups explained on July 1 so unless the board waives both the the resolution essentially will be ineffective right and and to be clear I'm not objecting both I guess I don't interpret that language that way which is my issue I don't know what that is what that sound is but I don't know if you heard me yes we understand okay anyone else for the comment okay offer to Miss Smith if I may dr. Gabriel so so what would happen miss meant generally when when I'm staff when they retire if they haven't used all of their vacation leave and they qualify for that there's usually a payout of that and so that would be the financial implication you know so that basically this year we're just

059asking that people not that staff not lose that leave because essentially they weren't able to take it so for for morale we thought it would be a good gesture it's definitely a good gesture but I also believe that the carry over I don't want to say this when the leave is taken that expenditure is a curry in in a fiscal year different from when it was accrued if I follow what's happening correctly seven-eighths rate 12-month employees rate a certain amount of sick leave and so again if you retire before you you use all of your sick leave you are you're paid out for the amount that you still have on the books and so people in our policy right now it limits the amount you're able to carry over so if you exceed the limit

060then you just those days convert back to the ratio that mr. Phillips ascribed back to sick leave that's my concern thank you dr. Burke swung it certainly sounds like you were trying to make a good decision on an item that employees were not able to take vacation due to the pandemic and I'm you bringing this forward can I have a motion on the floor to accept the resolution of employee accumulation of annual leave I move to accept the resolution of employees accumulation of annual leave is there a second second is there any further discussion miss Tanner please call the roll see I cam sin' by Glanton aye Jordan Martin aye Gabriel I thank you the motion carries the next item that we have on our agenda tonight is in do we and I see we

061have faith and charity do we lose charity yes okay dirty okay oh I see you cheered you know it's our school board representatives and so without further ado dr. birdsong good afternoon again we are very excited today to honor and celebrate two wonderful young women who we are just so proud of on faith & handli has served as our school board our student school board student representative and Miss charity Warner has a Warren has served as our alternate and today we wanted them to be allowed some time to speak to the community into the board about their experiences this year and we just wanted to celebrate and honor them and recognize them for their hard work in we just truly appreciate their appreciated their service on the board this year so without further ado I'm

062going to ask Miss Miss faith faith to please I called her miss babe I'm trying to call her miss Handley and everybody hear me just make sure okay good first I would just like to say hello everybody I missed seeing your faces and hearing your voices it's so nice to just see everybody again even if it's on my computer so first thing I understand right now for students that are watching that you're either really enjoying the quarantine because it's an early summer vacation or you're really missing going to class seeing your friends seeing your teachers your coaches and everything but it's going to be okay everything is going to be okay you're going to go back to school you're going to go off to college or trade school or the military whatever you decide to

063do after high school everything's gonna be okay parents this may be the only time you're here your child or children say I miss school so enjoy it while you can the reality of those words I miss school is such a shocker like I hear my friends say it all the time like I never thought I would hear myself say that especially in this time it's really scary no one knows what's gonna happen but it's going to be okay everything's gonna be fine well we may not go back to the lives that we once lived but we'll go back to a normal life this is a time to learn to grow to learn about ourselves our families our community this is a great time to come together and work together and make sure that we we

064beat Korona freshmen I am so sorry but your first year ended like this high school isn't like this trust me but you next three years are not going to be the same definitely gonna be different definitely going to be more influenced at this time right now seniors I'm really sorry you had to miss graduation I am so sorry that big milestone that big step in your life ended like this prom I know you guys are really excited to get dressed up go out with your friends I'm so sorry you had to miss that I had a lot of friends like really just they did like at-home prom pictures of improvised I'm so sorry your last year of school public school like this you didn't expect it none of us did a student representative there's a

065lot of things I learned I learned how to listen I learned how to hear and listen and comprehend I learned how to just not not say anything you know just listen and hear what people wanted to say I learned that my generation had their voice is so loud they have so much to say and the school board is there they have so much to say and the school board is there to listen I'm just so proud to say that of my generation like where we need an important form of representation and this city this wonderful city has it which is my seat they they're able to listen they're willing to listen we are willing we want to hear these young adults talk to us and and work with us to improve not only their school

066but their city their community their state and lastly I do want to touch on my generation and charities generation their potential to change the world the tragedy of George Floyd shook the nation to say the least it really did wake a lot of us up to realize that there is room to change there's a lot of room to improve there's a saying that we all know those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it and being on the school board the best way to make change is to educate we need to improve the education system so we're producing students that are that are have voices and that that want to go out and make change and so we don't have history repeating itself we don't have the negative side of history repeating itself

067if we don't know our history every bit of it including the terrible tragedies that have occurred devastating actions and mistakes will be repeated and unrest will persist in the next generation and we cannot have that happen a lot of parents who have wants to raise their kids better than they were raised well we have to do that in our schools we have to teach children so they know more than their parents and their children will know more than them so they know they are history good and bad we have to accept that we have to mix up their mistakes so they know good and bad so they know what's unacceptable within our society and I am positive that our generation will make sure that happens thank you that was wonderful well you can hear me

068yes I just want to say like they say I miss y'all I really miss the meetings it has really been a whirlwind of a year honestly if anybody would've told me that this is gonna happen I probably would have liked it and brush tool' ahead and brush it off but now look at us we've lately I've been thinking about what I wish somebody would have told me before all this started and the only thing that I can come up with is I wish somebody would have told me to get ready get ready to work alone get ready to teach yourself get ready to change your lifestyle and now I want to tell my fellow students is to stay ready stay ready for the possibility that all things might not go your way stay raised to

069push yourself to new limits to train your mind always be ready to elevate because any given minute any given moment is a chance to learn about yourself and become better and so my fellow 2020 graduates I want to say congratulations I hope you all continue to press the air we learned a lot about ourselves this this world what we value and what goals we have but why am i most about my class is that our focus and our determination we were thrown something that none of us could have seen coming and found new innovative ways to overcome we didn't let it beat us down we stay consistent we endured and our journeys are something to be recognized and we are all forces to be reckoned with and I want to say this in my to

070my community especially the black can yes we are also outraged as we watch the videos of the unwanted violence against our brothers and sisters that has gone unpunished being angry frustrated and fed up is a natural result but you must work to effect change as the next generation of leaders me the class of 2020 must fight prejudice and injustice with purpose please continue to vote votes in the systemic racism that plays this country vote for civil rights human rights vote because now is the time for change be advocates for your brother your sister your community and yourself the activists speak out against injustice is that people that black people and people of color fades 2020 is the year vision and with vision you don't just see the good things and the bright futures you see

071the problems that we need to fix with vision comes ingenuity innovation and creativity we see the tragedies of this world and we know that we can't see it or forget it we have to act now kaalia now so DC so that we may experience a world with kinder that is kinder and more just again I want to say congratulations to the graduating class of 2020 and express how much pride I take in the fact that I am a part of this set of such a historic class to the younger generations ask that you please stay consistent your education and stay focused set goals and follow-through before I end I want to say thank you to school board like fate set the school were taught me to listen and to not just listen to hear what

072they're saying but to actually understand and comprehend and empathize with them and before in I wanna well collected to you who have all given me an experience that I will never forget being able to witness everything for his hand having my voice heard being able to reach the lives of children all the while preaching the importance of education all of it something I won't soon forget I will continue to pray for the City of Norfolk his community and his students and so thank you for everything give them a round of applause and dr. birdsong I do believe that miss Tanner has something that she would like to show to our representatives he does Tanner yes we have and also we have one for charity and it reads with sincere appreciation for your service as the

073City of Norfolk school board student representatives during the 2019-20 school year and I only do we have plaques for you but we also have medals for you could have worn them during graduation and make sure that you get these two items and recognition of your service to the school board so thank you again thank you thank you I'd like to open the floor up to my colleagues if they would like to offer any reflective moments to our wonderful student representatives anyone miss Marty real quick you both touched on a very important point and it's when you know you're young and you're ambitious and you want to get out there and conquer the world and I see that in both of you and it's an amazing thing and I hope that that carries on for the

074rest of your life but it is important because we are such a diverse community we're such a diverse world that you can't just judge people you know by looking at them you really do have to stop and listen and you will you know the old adage that um God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason you really do need to learn that and it well I mean we might remind yourself and I we all struggle with it but I just I see you guys you know just so ambitious and you're gonna do such amazing things and I can't wait to follow you and your careers and your education but you know there especially when you go on to college and whatever else you'll be doing after after this experience you're gonna meet

075people that are gonna have an amazing experience is just like you have and it is just I cannot stress enough so important to really listen and learn from them and that is something that you know it's like a gift we give each other is to take a piece of you know learn from other people and take that with us on our journeys as well so thank you so much for all you've done for the school board this year and it's been really great to get to know you so good luck okay thank you miss Martin mr. Jordan and then miss the scene yeah I just wanted to say to faith and charity you all did an excellent job I was on a meeting in a meeting yes Owen with zoom Monday with the African American

076Heritage Education Commission and the members and others were still raving about the student panel at Norfolk State that both of you participated in how that was the greatest panel and session that we had so far as part of our work you all were excellent there you were excellent with your participation at the VSP a student representative conference that we had during our annual convention you were excellent there you are excellent in your planning work that you were doing with the Norfolk Council of PTA is your individual work with n-double-a-cp and edge individual high schools and and all the other activities that you've been involved with and in I really appreciate the advice that you all have given to me as an individual board member and being able to hear your voice and your perspectives from

077the work and research that you've done with your peers all across the city wish you great success and wish you well and don't forget us as you move on sound like charity was wishing Norfolk good bye but you know we noticed you're still this is still your home and we look forward to you all contributing to the greatness of Norfolk whether you come back here and do that whether you do it from afar but both of you were excellent and just thank you for your service Thank You mr. Jordan missed the scene yes thank you madam chair first I want to say congratulations to the both of you for completing this unprecedented senior year as you said and I am sorry that you didn't get to finish your whole year on as our school board

078representative either but you sure packed it in any rich way that you could and I'm so grateful for that and for both of you I remember the very first meeting that you both came to and you came to the very first meeting after you were sworn in and I think actually before you were sworn in and you jumped right in with suggestions just a regular team member of the board and I was so excited to have both of your input which are student voice is so valuable so I'm I'm excited I know I have no doubt you were going to accomplish amazing things in your future and I look forward to hearing all about it do the years to come so I wish you the best of luck and thank you so much for whatever

079you all choose to do I just believe it's going to be great so don't lose that tenacity that you have keep it going and in all of it just remember to continue to give that thank you Miss Smith mr. Quentin congratulations to you both and I don't think I heard what you guys were going so I'm actually going to TCC to get my associates and then I'll be meeting up with charity at UVA mm-hmm I'm not saying great so congratulations to both of you you have definitely been an asset to this board and being able to just listen when you guys pull us to the side have you thought about this or you know just giving your perspective and that's what a student representative has to do and you guys have been out there in

080the community and bringing back the concerns from your student populations from various areas so thank you for being a great example in representation and taking that bar higher every year I'm the student representative got better and better and so it's going to come in next pandemic has certainly changed so much of how your senior year would have been but those things will pass right now we have a movement going on in our country and it's your generations turn to make the changes that are going to happen in our country in the years that come other generations have had that they have that privilege to do that not all of them but many have but this one is a big one and so I would urge you as you move out into adulthood to grab the

081moment don't let this particular movement end without you being a part of it it'll be something that you'll always know because this will be your opportunity to change the world so go forth ladies and make a difference for us all enjoy yourselves thank you very much miss Camden and to faith and charity I am so excited for what your future holds you all have demonstrated excellent leadership for your student representatives as the representatives on the school board I truly have valued your opinions your questions even when we didn't necessarily reach out to you which we're learning this process is you certainly reached out to us and I thank you for that sometimes as the adults in the room we tried to incorporate the viewpoint of the student but you will really bring it home to

082us and I think that that came out in several discussions that we had to both of you I will leave you with a quote too much is given much is expected you all have been given a very distinct honor to serve on the board you have witnessed leadership policy governance decision-making in action you have you are also witnessing the actions that occur after a decision is made and I think that it is good for you all to think about it and one day when you are our age you'll look back and say well I remember when I was in this position and and what happened and I hope that you learn from it that's what wisdom is about both of you all are truly smart but with time comes wisdom and use this opportunity that

083you have been given as a point of reflective wisdom I know that you all are going to do fantastic things and I would just say that when I was a graduating senior in 1998 I did not think that I would come back to be a school board member and not even the chair I probably didn't even know a lot about what the school board did at that time but here I am and I'm very proud to be leading our division and I hope that one of you or both think about you think about your career so with that being said time limit wish you all the best and stay in touch okay all right so we'll go ahead then and move on oh and so the other board members traditionally we normally vote on our

084school board representatives for the final year during this time but with everything going on we're going to have that for the business meeting in July so our new school board reps will have we will be taking about an action on that in July okay the next item on the agenda is the approval of our minutes item 2.06 is there a motion to approve the minutes from the March 11th 25th May 6 and 27th meeting madam chair I move for approval of the March 4th 11th and 25th and May 6th and 27th minutes as was in it thank you very much mr. Klein is there a second there is a second by Miss Canton is there any further discussion seeing that there is none miss tanner please call the roll see I am s'en on Clanton

085I Martin and Gabriel I make you the motion carries next item on the agenda item 2.07 vote on the superintendent's designee dr. birdsong yes dr. Gabriel mr. Clanton members of the board I respectfully request that you authorized dr. James Paul the newly appointed chief academic officer to find all video he reports documents requisitions and other official correspondence in my accent effective July 1 2020 thank you very much dr. birdsong name is there a motion on the floor as shared by dr. birdsong madam chair I move that we adopt the superintendent's recommendation as her designee right okay is there a second second thank you is there a further discussion there's none miss Tanner please call the roll C hi Tamsin aye Blanton I did all right Martin hi Gabriel aye Thank You motion carries we will

086now take an opportunity to go into our closed session item 2.08 I have a motion on the floor to enter into closed session I move to enter into closed session miss Tanner if you could please read the motion move that members of the school board go into a closed session for the purposes which are set out in subsection a of section 2.2 - 371 111 you Freedom of Information Act as amended for discussion or consideration of prospective candidates for employment and the assignment appointment promotion performance demotion salaries disciplining a resignation of specific officers appointees or employees etc of the pursuing subsection one of the above cited Code section the subject this portion of the session will be the personnel docket of this day and discussion of disciplinary matters concerning specific employees the consultation with legal

087counsel and briefing by staff members concerning actual or probable litigation or specific legal matters require the provision of legal advice by counsel pursuant to subsection 7 and 8 of the above cited Code section the subjects of this portion of the session are briefing by staff and consultation with counsel the matters identified above see she's on me I hampson Glanton all right Martin thank you all right see you everybody in closed session to come out a closed session we come out a closed session any further discussion mr. Tanner please call the roll the scene here Sampson dear Clanton I think you should wear a resolution certifying the executive meeting of the school board of the city of norfolk and accords for the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act whereas the school board of the

088City of Norfolk has convened a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and whereas section 2.2 - 7 1 2 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 members knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by virginia law or discuss an executive meeting to which this certification resolution applies and only such a public business matters as we identified in the motion convening the executive meeting or her discuss or considered by the school board of

089the city of norfolk the scene I camps --n i Clanton hi Jordan hi Martin hi hi thank you I would like to move ahead with approval of personnel docket a is there a motion to approve personal item a again this is our personnel docket madam chair I move go ahead you approve personnel docket a okay is there a second second any further discussion miss tanner please call the roll the scene i am since i Clanton I Martin I I'm Gabriel I thank you can I have a motion on the floor to approve the Supplemental docket with the modification madam chair I move that we approve the Supplemental docket as modified second any further discussion okay miss tanner please call the roll I see abstain Empson Clanton aye Jordan aye Martin aye Gabriel I missed beseen

090I think you might I think that I think item number three the item that you want to abstain on so would you like to change yes I wouldn't sorry i okay thank you I just I that's what I thought that you who had wanted to do okay so now miss Tanner and I think you need to call my name I'm sorry Gabriel I Thanks okay and then um personal item see I I moved to adopt personal item see okay is there a second hello is there a second anyone personnel items see - that's the one where we took second right you this what what we're voting on right now is the one individual okay anything cool okay so we have a motion we have a second is there any further discussion okay miss Tanner please

091call the roll the see abstain Tamsin hi Clanton I'm Jordan nay Martin all right hi Gabriel I motion carries okay so the last items that we have on the agenda and I thank you all again for allowing us to add these items this would be item 4.0 to dr. birdsongs request for an amendment to the 2019 2020 academic calendar year is there a motion on the floor to adopt the proposed calendar change to honor June 19th as Juneteenth state holiday Oh madam chair hear me yes please I moved to adapt the superintendent's recommendation to observe June 19 or the Juneteenth this Friday as a state holiday and we're about Norfolk public schools will be closed I second okay okay is there any further discussion just one point of clarity so the recommendation is for it

092to be a paid holiday this coming Friday is that correct okay thank you all right so I'll take a friendly amendment to add that in there that it's a paid holiday and for those under contract thank you welcome okay is there seeing that there is no further discussion mr. Tanner please call the roll the see hi Tamsin lanten's hi Jordan Martin hi thank you item 4.03 the VSP a resolution on racial justice in school board education mr. Clinton thank you madam chair the resolution before the board for consideration it states as follows whereas members of the Norfolk city school board as well as Norfolk public school staff are saddened and outraged by recent events that discriminate the prejudice and injustice that persist in our country whereas racism and hate have no place in our schools

093or our society and we must protect the constitutional rights of every person who lives works and learns in our community whereas we cannot be silent we urgently must act to stop the racial and Justices and harms that anguishes black people who are our family friends neighbors students staff members and fellow Americans whereas we must listen those who have endured and discrimination and intolerance deserve to be heard as they share their stories and truths about their experiences and feelings and we must seek with great empathy to understand their challenges and their pain whereas we must learn and it's time to engage our community and meaningful and honest conversation about ratio and equality to build alliances with those committed to justice for all and to work together to support our school our shared conviction that racism must

094end whereas we must lead each us individually and collectively is responsible for creating and nurturing an anti-racist learning environment where every child is respected and valued for who they are regardless of their skin color we must actively acknowledge address and prevent racial biases racial bias that occurs as a result of division policies practices and actions and whereas we must do better our school division can be and will be a sanctuary of safety in our community and a beacon of light in the world as we build and strengthen trust with those we serve and and we model the acceptance of all people therefore be a result that we the members of the Norfolk City School Board stand steadfast in our commitment to foster an inclusive educational environment where every student teacher support professional parent and community

095member is treated with dignity and respect as well as our commitment to continue fighting for racial justice and human and civil rights for all Thank You mr. Clinton is there a second is there any further discussion just one one thing is a contributor to the to the resolution does anyone have any objection to me voting on the resolution no I wouldn't is there is there anybody else that has any other discussion points for the resolution matters of discussion okay I would like to add some comments to this and this again ties in with the announcement by dr. birdsong as well as mr. Clinton in miss Tanner please feel free to put the timer on me because of this is discussion time I wanted to address an important issue collaboratively with you all as we are

096all aware across our country there have been meaningful conversations taking place about issues of race and equity and the need for solidarity in a commitment to addressing America's very painful past these conversations have also become pointed in action at the local level and indeed we have seen some of the immediate action with removal of some of the Confederate statues here in our own City and in our neighbors at Fort Smith I believe that each and every one of us is committed to advancing excellence and equity and Norfolk public schools and we all know that that can happen if the bravery to commit to candid conversations and courageous problem-solving is there and upon us one such conversation as it ties into directly to this resolution that I do feel that the board needs to be prepared

097to have is Norfolk public schools own ties to our history and that is that we have some schools that have names that harken back to Confederate alliances we can all agree that this is an issue that deserves our collective examination that the question before us is how do we evaluate this how do we examine it and I do have some ideas that I would like to share with you all and I very much so welcome your thoughts the board has an ideal time ahead of us at our July 14th governance training the framework of that training is around equity and I think that that would be an appropriate time to begin this conversation and talk about what would this process look like I would hope that we can commit to developing this process this would

098not be a conversation that would be isolated to the board but would also be one that we would include our stakeholders in its it would be very it would be a big undertaking and so I just say that in the framework of this resolution with our upcoming board training I just wanted to share those thoughts with you for if there's going to be change with this it is going to be changed that ultimately is made by the board thank you miss Tanner if you could please call the roll C hi hampson I Clanton hi Jordan hi Lauren hi in gay bro thank you very much the resolution passes the last item that we have on the agenda at mr. Jordan's request as matters of the board for the sake of time with it we are

099at 7:04 I will allow the two minutes for matters of the board mr. Jordan yes thank you first thing we opened up the meeting today with basically having an opportunity to take a draft agenda get input from the governor's team and then act on the agenda I think that's a process we should be using every business meeting at least but every meeting going forward second thing is I've shared several times my concerns about our policies not being updated over the last several months this is our last business meeting for this school year we're going into the new year July 1 I would like to see us have some type of clarification and discussion around what our actions are going to be to bring our policies up to date as soon as possible we spent several

100years trying to get to the point where we wouldn't have this great lag time with our policies and I since we all know we govern through policies I think it's extremely important that we take very appropriate action as soon as possible to bring our policies up to date and then the last item is the timer so in our retreat I just learned that we're going to be talking about equity in our retreat I think it's important that we also have an opportunity to discuss what our rules are going to be and that we adopt those rules and that we follow those rules and I have clarity around it as well as our policies overall so those are the three things I wanted to bring up at this time and thank you for allowing me to

101do so it's Bhasin yes so I agree with mr. Jordan and have similar requests on my list of matters of the board I do think that the policy committee and the policy work needs to be a priority as we head into July I also I sent an email about you know you so eloquently talked about addressing some relics that are rooted in structural and institutional racism and I think that we also have to take a deep look at our data and our practices as it relates to discipline I sent an email to you all about that and I would like for that to be a topic of discussion as soon as we can have that discussion perhaps at the retreat in July like you want to talk about our rules around discussion having the opportunity

102for discussion in a holistic way so that we have the benefit of hearing each other's questions and concerns and I think I think there's great benefit to hearing what each other have to bring to the table so with the timer has certainly seemed prohibitive of that and right now that those are my pressing concerns all right mr. Quentin all right thank you I just want to point out that we are at the end of another school year and we're about to enter into another one and I agree in the respect of when we get to our board retreat that it's an opportunity for us to have a collective holistic discussion about how we're going to operate for the coming year I would also point out that I don't want board norms and protocols and standing

103rules to be confused with equity because they're not the same thing it's how we govern ourselves to get the work done and I also want to remind my colleagues that even in our board governance there's the work that happens during the meeting after the meeting and preparing for the meeting and I'm I'm gonna challenge myself and I'll take the first steps cuz I can't ask anybody else to do that and that's to pick up the phone more and to share thoughts and opinions with one another so that we are being respectful the time of our community when they are watching these meetings and that we can come in and execute we shouldn't be doing committee work during a business meeting when we should've taken care of action so I just want to challenge and and

104we gain with myself that we communicate more and that we share ideas and to be respectful for but that we also look at leading our retreat all of us being there in July with knowing what how we're gonna operate and govern ourselves and that we followed it for the coming year but thank you all and look forward for another year thank you madam chair Thank You mr. Fenton and anybody else okay thank you so much so the next meeting times that we have will be for the July retreat again those dates are we've had them for quite a while now on July 13th and 14th and then we have our school board meeting on the 15th and whether that retreat will take place in person or over zoom will be dependent upon the governor's action

105so please stay tuned for that and we will follow up with people meeting is adjourned look yeah there's a couple onions first okay okay is this a question related to the to the training it is related to the training um real quick go ahead who's conducting the training is that a vsba no it's not yeah can you can you talk can you share a little more about what you I'll be happy to do that offline not right now during our meeting as it's not an agenda item okay this matter to the board but I'm happy to discuss it though don't we collectively I believe that the board collectively determines that at least since I've been on the board you collectively determined that in the past what has happened is the the board has engaged in

106with a entity for the governance training and we have gone about the superintendent the chair and that entity has discussed what the training is going to be and so dr. birdsong is working on that entity as we speak yeah just just to add to that so as the board we first agreed we wanted to do governor's training then we had collective discussion around who we would consider as governor's training we then voted on that especially if it was an RFP process and the entire governor's team the board and the superintendent together always worked through that process SP and I understand that mr. Jorden and believe me it has definitely been on our minds through agenda planning but in the scope of pandemic and getting students technology and feeding students and everything that goes with it

107I'm sure that dr. birdsong has tried to prioritize and triage what is of highest importance so it's not a matter that she has not addressed and has not been on on my great attention but again as we all think about the circumstances that we have been through over the past three months I'm there will be an entity that it will be coming together we just do not have all the final details on that yet and yes the board can come together and make that decision just to be clear I was not addressing my concerns to dr. birdsong I was as chair of the board I was addressing it to my fellow colleagues as the board yeah okay and okay I'm alright okay Nik Adele had a um Theresa can I just say something quickly about

108that it was just to respond to that is that I had made some suggestions on you know things that I would like to see us or hear us to talk about a lot and it is really centered around equity and in looking at how really making some movement on that but also some continuation of our our implicit bias training to really help us through that process so I had made that recommendation but also far as scheduling my firt my initial question was I really need to know what times with the start an Entenmann's for the training will be on that Monday and Tuesday please sure we can get that out to everybody okay all right well thank you so much for your feedback and for your time this evening and I call this meeting adjourned