001I know, I was kind of bummed about that. Yeah, hope you have a good presentation. >> Good evening. Welcome to our regular meeting for Monday, April 26th, 2020 or April 27th, 2026. I'm going to get the dates right. Um we met earlier uh for some closed session items, so we're now ready to begin the open meeting and we'll begin that with a moment of silence if you'd like to join us. Thank you. The next item on our agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. If you'd stand and join us, please. The next item on our agenda are public comments. Um there is no one signed up to speak tonight, so we will move on to the consent agenda. Board members, our consent agenda has the minutes from April 8th, April 13th, the bills and mileage from
002March 2026, a series of field trips, the personnel listing. We just need one motion to approve the consent agenda. So moved. Thank you, Ms. Bergoin. Do we have a second? Well, that was two of you. We'll give it to Ms. Laura. Thank you. Okay, Ms. Laura has the second. That That happened quite a bit already this evening. Any questions or comments? All those in favor of approving the consent agenda as presented, please say yes. Yes. All those opposed say no. Motion passes 5-0. That moves us into other action items. Tonight we have several of those and we'll begin with the naming of Folks Run Elementary School Field. Ms. Jody Randolph is here. She's the principal from Folks Run here to present that information to us. Good evening. My name is Jody Randolph and I am
003the principal at Folks Run Elementary School. I am here tonight along with several members of my staff to propose um that the field area at Folks Run Elementary be named in honor of a long-time RCPS teacher who dedicated over 30 years of service to our school. As you will hear this evening, Susan Fox was not only a devoted educator, but also a respected role model within our community. Our hope to name the field in her honor comes from the heartfelt support from staff members, the Folks Run Elementary PTO, and many members of the community. >> [clears throat] >> Her family holds um her her family holds Folkston Elementary as a very special place and they even chose to hold her memorial service this past year at the school in a place that she so deeply
004loved. Naming the field Fox Field would be meaning would be a meaningful way to recognize her lasting impact and legacy. I have a few staff members with me who would like to share their support for the proposed Fox Field. Good evening. I'm going to read my letter or else I'll ramble on for a long time and nobody has time for that. I'm writing this letter in support of naming the new Folkston Elementary kickball field the Fox Field in memory of Mrs. Susan Fox, a retired third grade teacher from Folkston Elementary who recently passed away from cancer. Mrs. Fox was a dedicated member of the Folkston Elementary School staff for 32 years. She spent those years teaching not just our students but the community as well. Her many years spent supporting our PTO involved serving as
005a liaison between the staff and the PTO, coming to PTO events and volunteering to help in whatever ways that she could. When she committed to something, she gave her all. Folkston Elementary wasn't just a job to Susan. It was a calling that she took very seriously. In retirement, she was crazy enough to come back to sub at Folkston Elementary. And even after her diagnosis of cancer, Mrs. Fox continued to substitute up until the last several months of her life. Susan's impact will be felt for years through the lives she has touched including mine. She wasn't just a teacher, she was a dear friend and second family to all of us at Folkston. The naming of the kickball field will keep Susan's life and her commitment to this community alive for many years to come. I
006thank you for considering this option for honoring and remembering a very dedicated RCPS and FRES teacher. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Amanda McBride. I've been at Folkston for 9 years and for all of those years, I knew Susan. She was one of the most welcoming people when I got there. And her 32 years in the classroom were not the end of her time at Folkston. She was already signed up to sub by the time that October deadline hit for having to be out of the classroom. She was there every chance she could get in any position we needed her for. She even came back for school auctions to volunteer her time and was always ready to help no matter what the occasion was. She's dedicate She dedicated so much of her life to
007the kids and the families and the whole community of Folkston Run that I can't think of any better way to honor her legacy than naming Fox Field. She was one of the most active people I knew. She would walk around every day and spent many a day on that track back and forth and played in the staff versus fifth grade kickball game every single year. It would be a wonderful honor for her and I know her family would love it as well. Thank you. Um board members, I have submitted the resolution. Would you like me to go through that resolution? Yes, I was just going to say I would like to have that read aloud. >> Sure. So the naming of field the field at Folkston Elementary School for Fox Field, whereas Susan Fox served
008as a dedicated teacher at Folkston Elementary for 32 years where she taught third grade and positively impacted the lives of her students, colleagues and broader community. Whereas even after retirement and throughout her illness, Mrs. Fox continued to serve the school she loved with grace and dedication working as an RCPS substitute teacher at Folkston Elementary. Whereas Miss Fox was a devoted educator whose enthusiasm and unwavering commitment coupled with her passion for learning created an engaging and supportive environment where each student was encouraged and supported to succeed each day. Whereas serving um her school community was one of her greatest passions. For many years, she served as the PTO liaison between staff and the PTO working closely with the community to support students at Folkston Elementary. She generously volunteered at events and always was willing to lend
009a hand a helping hand in any way that she possibly could. Whereas Miss Fox embraced a healthy lifestyle and was often seen walking the track at Folkston Elementary each morning before school and then often again in the afternoon regardless of the weather. She especially looked forward to the annual fifth grade um staff or staff versus fifth grade kickball game um in which she enthusiastically participated each year. Therefore, be it resolved that the Rockingham County School Board name the track and field area at Folkston Elementary Fox Field in honor of Mrs. Fox um and her long-standing commitment to the contributions to the students, staff, community of Folkston Elementary School. Miss Randolph, are any of Miss Fox's family members were they able to be here tonight? They were not able. They were regretfully not able to attend
010tonight. Um we did I did speak with her husband last week. Okay. I just wanted to make sure to Yes, he is very he is very supportive of this honor. Okay. Um board members, >> [clears throat] >> having heard the resolution, Dr. Shiflett, do you have a recommendation for the board? Chairwoman and board members, I recommend approval of the resolution naming the field area at Folkston Elementary School Fox Field. Thank you, Dr. Shiflett. Board members, do we have a motion? I proudly move that we rename the um field at Folkston to be Fox Field. Thank you, Miss Flora. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you, Miss Berglund. Board members, any questions or comments? Thank you very much. We appreciate it. This is an honor to truly a yes on this resolution. I feel like
011I can say that for the for the board. Um board members, um we have a motion to approve the resolution naming the field area at Folkston Elementary School Fox Field. All those in favor, please say yes. Yes. All those opposed, say no. Motion for the resolution to name it Fox Field passes 5-0. Oh. Okay, next on our action items is the Rockingham County Public School Special Education Educ- Education Annual Plan. Um Mr. Chris Bryant is here to present that to us. Chairwoman, members of the board, Dr. Shiflett, I am here after 2 weeks of uh last week two weeks ago presenting uh the strategic plan which we're in year two of a three-year plan that we uh we put together in my department uh last year. Uh and remember a strategic plan is a working
012document and as we see needs, we do uh try to respond to those needs in our school division. So I I'm going to seek approval from you after having chance to review the uh the annual plan. I'd like to thank a couple of folks here tonight, Brandon and Britney Cash, our families. Uh Catherine is here. Uh Rachel Chavez is Britney's paraprofessional at John C and Amber Ham, our special education advisory committee president. And we thank I thank you for being here to support our department. Just a couple highlights. We have a mem- we have a maintenance of effort. We're required to exceed the expense uh expenditures on special education each year and that is a state of Virginia requirement. We we meet that and exceed that. We have standards of quality in the state of
013Virginia which means that we make sure we have adequate staffing and I can show you I can assure you that you approve staffing that exceeds the standards of quality for Virginia. I I can assure you of that. So I do seek approval of the annual plan for 2026-2027. Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Dr. Shiflett. Chairwoman and board members, I recommend approval of the special education annual plan part B flow-through application for the 2026-2027 uh school year as presented by Chris Bryant, director of pupil personnel services. Thank you, Dr. Shiflett. Board members, do we have a motion to follow? I move we follow the superintendent's recommendation. Thank you, Miss Flora. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you, Miss Berglund. Any questions or comments? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say yes. Yes. All those opposed,
014say no. Motion follows or motion passes 5-0. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Our next action item is brought to us by Mr. Justin Moyers. It's student accident insurance. Read that again. Chairwoman, members of the board, Dr. Shiflett, I'm here this evening to talk to you about student accident um insurance. So in order to participate in VHSL activities, students must have health insurance. And every year we solicit companies to get quotes on student accident coverage that we put on our website for families to utilize if they wish to participate um in those plans. We do not contribute anything on those plans. It is strictly just we're passing on the information and then they work out with those companies the policies that they wish uh wish to have. This year we got um information back
015from two companies and we recommend Young Group uh for the '26-'27 school year. Thank you, Mr. Moyers. Dr. Shiflett. Chair Hurst and board members, I recommend awarding the plan for voluntary student accident insurance to Young Group for the '26-'27 school year as presented by Justin Moyers, Chief Finance and Operations Officer. Thank you, Dr. Shiflett. Board members, do we have a motion? So moved. Thank you, Ms. Berkwine. Do we have a second? Was that Ms. Ms. Irons? Okay, thank you, Ms. Irons for the second. Any questions or comments? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say yes. Yes. All those opposed, say no. Motion passes 5-0. Thank you, Mr. Moyers. Thank you. Okay, Dr. Shiflett, you get the last action item. That's the authorization for a special use permit. Yes, thank you. Chair Hurst and board
016members, I am requesting authorization from the school board to submit a request to the Rockingham County uh Board of Supervisors for a special use permit to allow for the construction of a new technical center within an industrial zoning district. Approval of this action will permit the division to proceed with the formal application process in accordance with local zoning requirements. Thank you, Dr. Shiflett. Board members, do we have a motion? I move to authorize the superintendent to submit a request to Rockingham County Board of Supervisors for a special use permit to allow for the construction of a school facility within an A a 1A industrial zoning district. Thank you, Ms. Lore. Do we have a second? Ms. Irons has the second. Board members, do you have any questions or comments? Apparently I said the zoning thing
017wrong, so if uh if if we can just fix that in the uh minutes and we all agree that it's I'm correct. >> [laughter] >> I'm struggling a little bit. Sorry. Thank you, Ms. Lore. Does anyone have any questions? Okay, hearing none, all those in favor of authorizing Dr. Shiflett to submit a request for a special use permit, please say yes. Yes. All those opposed, say no. Motion passes 5-0. All right, board members, that moves us into information items. There are several here tonight beginning with Mr. Bo Dickinson, who is our Rockingham County Social Studies Supervisor and he you have an update on a lot. Assessment update. I do. Assessment update. >> 200, all the things. All packaged together. Yep. So, thank you board members. Uh thank you, Hilliard, for hosting. It's always weird to
018be in this room. This is my alma mater, so it's weird to sit in these seats again. It's Hilliard Middle School, but it'll always be Broadway High School to me as a former Gobbler, so it's nice to be home. Uh Chair Hurst, Dr. Shiflett, members of the board, I'm here this evening to provide an update on Senate Bill 200. As Chair Hurst was mentioning, that's a piece of legislation that will have a meaningful impact on social studies teaching and learning in Rockingham County, not just in Rockingham County, but across the entire Commonwealth of Virginia. Senate Bill 200 builds on earlier legislation as you can see in the slideshow in your packet. That's including it really is a a revision of or an addition to a slight modification really of previous legislation that was passed last
019spring and that's House Bill that was signed by Governor Youngkin uh in the spring of 2025. And of course that reflects bipartisan support for rethinking how we assess student learning in social studies. That is a major shift at the state level and I'm grateful that Rockingham has already been out in front of this work. At its core, the bill expands the use of locally developed performance assessments and allows divisions to move away from one-time standardized tests in subjects like Virginia Studies and Civics. So, instead it emphasizes ongoing demonstrations of student learning using a series of assessments scored with the VDOE's state common rubric. Now, one important change to take note of is that in Senate Bill 200, probably the most significant change from HB 1957 to the current legislation, is that teachers would no longer
020score their own students' assessment for verified credit. Uh that's part of a broader compromise with the bill's patron, who actually is a social studies teacher. His name's uh Schuyler Van Valkenburg from Henrico County. He's a state senator, but he also is still a a classroom social studies teacher himself. And it was a uh series of compromises with him and various stakeholders in moving forward with K-12 performance-based assessment in social studies. So, um let's talk a little bit about how that relates to RCPS. So, on slide number two, uh this work aligns closely with what we have already have in place in RCPS. We have an established foundation through, as many of you know, the locally awarded verified credit process at the high school level, otherwise known as the LAVC option. Uh our teachers are implementing
021those state inquiry-based assessments that come to us from VDOE. Uh they are collaborating in in grade level teams. They are scoring student work together and they have uh 3 years of experience in doing so. Uh the results have been strong, I'm proud to say, with pass rates in the mid-90s and I have a high level of confidence in both the data and that process. We have also seen clear benefits for students particularly from our special education and our English language learners teams. Leadership and teachers within both of those departments report that these assessments give students more meaningful opportunities to demonstrate what they know and what they can do. Because the work is embedded in instruction, that's what makes this unique and I would say what makes it better. Because it's embedded in instruction, they're curriculum-embedded
022assessments, it's supported throughout the process and students are able to access the content, build skills over time, and show growth in ways that a single test does not really capture. And I'm saying that about our sped students and our EL students, but really that's about all kids. That's just better instruction and it's a better model of assessment. These curriculum-embedded assessments allow students to demonstrate what they know and what they can do, and that's important in social studies. It's not just about memorizing information. That's something we've been trying to get away from since I was a student here. Uh I was taught social studies that way. That worked for me because obviously I love this stuff, but that's not every kid as we know. So, it can't just be about memorization and rote memory. Uh this
023assessment is great because the expectations are clear. It aligns curriculum with instruction and assessment for the first time in a way that strengthens strengthens the overall system. It's also more rigorous asking students to make claims, support those claims with evidence, and then explain their reasoning. That is far more rigorous than what a multiple-choice test asks, and there's not there's nothing wrong with a multiple-choice test. I want to be clear. There is a time and a place for that. I just don't believe that it works well for social studies as an end-of-course singular test in May. I think that's something that works well on a day-to-day basis in a classroom to assess what students know, but really we want them moving up those levels of Bloom's taxonomy. A multiple-choice test is great if you want to
024know what they know, and that's the base level of Bloom's. If we want our kids to critically think and to demonstrate not only knowledge, but the application of that knowledge, and then move up to the the analysis of that, and then to synthesize and evaluate and bring an argument together. Bringing all the various pieces together is synthesis, and to make a valid claim and support it with evidence, that is very rigorous critical thought. And that is why this assessment system is better in my view and very innovative in taking us forward. Let's go ahead and take a look at what currently is in place, just as a reminder to the board. The LAVC process is something that we've been doing for 3 years. So, let me just walk you through this. We have a series
025of inquiries, otherwise known as IDMs. That stands for the inquiry design model. this in an iterative sense. So, there's a student benefit to this and there's a teacher benefit to this. So, they do this in the fall, the winter, and the spring. For students, that's an opportunity for growth. You get three bites at the apple, not just one, not just that test in May that's high stakes and purely knowledge-based, but you get three chances to improve and learn from the process and from feedback from your teacher. So, if I'm a student that doesn't really do well with assessment, regardless of the type. If I'm a student with high test anxiety, this gives me three chances to improve and three chances to understand what the expectations are and what I'm being asked to do. And it
026also gives me, as the teacher, three chances to understand what that student needs and how to make sure that they're successful. That's not only looking at this as a summative assessment, but looking at it in a formative sense. Rarely do we ever get that chance with a statewide assessment to use formative data to then inform our instruction to better serve our students and ensure their success. To me, that's the greatest benefit. But not only that, we're asking teachers to do that now, K-12. So, that's what HB, or excuse me, Senate Bill SB 200 does. It expands LAVC to basically being a an assessment system that's K-12. So, it could be horizontally articulated, as you see there in World Geography, but also vertically articulated, so it goes through the sequence and spirals through all of the
027classes. Uh that's something that I think will benefit our teachers and professional learning to all be talking the same language, all be talking about the same practices, and accordingly, for me, to have a single message in terms of professional learning and professional development. So, you can see in this graphic, I've used this before to talk about our results. In 2023, this is in World Geography, we had a 76% pass rate. Now, we'll say that it while it's low, it still was above the state average. Uh but because of the changes with LAVC and because we were teaching to the test, and sometimes when you say that, you say that as a pejorative. It's oftentimes phrased as a criticism. But we should teach to the test. Okay, the test is there not as a trick, not
028as a gotcha, but to demonstrate what students know and to demonstrate their understanding and their success. Teachers should be teaching to the test. With this test being embedded in curriculum and instruction, they're doing that in the best possible sense. And I actually wrote an article about this with Kathy Swan, and we published this nationally and titled it Teaching to a better test. And that's really what these assessments are. It's a better form of assessment and it's a better picture of what students really know. And that's why I chose the title for that work that I did. Uh now, let's take a look at what actually is happening in Rockingham and why this work matters, okay? Uh this work matters because, of course, they're embedded in instruction, they're not a one-day event. As I said before,
029students have ongoing opportunities to show understanding and growth. They're also inquiry-based, so students analyze sources, they think critically, they build arguments. This increases rigor while also improving access for a wider range of learners. In short, better assessment is driving better instruction. When an assessment focuses primarily on recall, which I would have to say multiple-choice test does because it's oriented toward content knowledge, instruction often follows that pattern. And when an assessment requires both content and skills, instruction rises to meet that expectation. And I've seen that happen in our classrooms. I've seen that happen with our social studies teachers. That's the lesson of this entire pilot. Now, I won't say a pilot, we've been doing this for 3 years now. This is our system. But this assessment system shows me very clearly that assessment drives instruction and
030in the best possible sense. So, uh where do we go from here? Uh in Civics and Virginia Studies, those are the two classes where we would spread uh this type of program in order to enable it to be K-12, so that it's vertically articulated as well as horizontally articulated. I feel like there's incredible infrastructure to do that. So, let me highlight two examples briefly. But in Civics, that picture that you see on the right, that's Mrs. Kim Dove. As you know, we presented a few months ago, she is the Virginia Social Studies Teacher of the Year for the entire Commonwealth of Virginia. I can't stop celebrating that for our department, that's amazing accomplishment in and of itself. But that video that you see there, the photo of the video being shot, is that that is
031the Virginia Department of Education sending a film crew for 2 days to see Mrs. Dove teach. And they were watching her teach on inquiry because they wanted to see a pro do it. And the footage of that video will be used in a teacher training module that will go out to the entire Commonwealth of Virginia as an example of how you do this. So, I share that one to celebrate Mrs. Dove, but two to say we're ready to do this in Civics. Mrs. Dove is a Civics teacher of renown across the state. She wants to lead this. I want to help her build that team to do this work. In Virginia Studies, uh we don't have a singular standout, perhaps, but I'll highlight a few years ago a team, four Virginia Studies teachers and myself
032and a professor at JMU, we built an inquiry around Barbara Johns. That inquiry was highlighted in Social Studies and the Young Learner, which is our national journal. It made the cover of that magazine. So, we were very proud of that work in Virginia Studies, and it was later actually featured on a podcast for a national news outlet where they had audio of students engaged in this inquiry from John Wayland Elementary and Mountain View featured on a national news podcast. And you hear our students' voices learning this material and engaging in it. I'd love to share it with you all. I'll have to remember to do that. It's an amazing um it's an amazing piece of media. So, with those two, I'd say we have the infrastructure to make the move. And how does this fit
033in with the comprehensive instructional program, otherwise known as CIP? I feel like this is CIP for Social Studies, and I want to be clear about that. We want the data analytics that come from these assessments. There are multiple data points that come from the state common rubric. We go through a scoring process where students are assessed by now not their classroom teachers, but they would be assessed by two individuals, probably colleagues within the same department to ensure that there's interrater reliability and that data is verifiable and valid. We want to be able to analyze that across the sequence. So, while we have might have a different type of assessment, we're in CIP in the sense of using this data and and analyzing it to determine how well our Social Studies program uh is working and
034how effective it is. So, with that, what questions do you have? Thank you for that time to go in depth. I know that was a deep dive, but it's complicated. Thank you, Mr. Dickinson. Um board members, do you have any questions? Um First of all, when um Mrs. Dove's video is released, can we see it? Can we get a link to it? >> Absolutely. That would be awesome. I'm really looking forward to seeing that. Um And then, for our naysayers, what do you say to the folks that look at this graph and say, "Well, you just made it easier. That's why we're passing more." Address that a little bit for me, just for the group. Cuz I know we're doing better. No, I'm happy to. Uh when I first saw the results, I was pleased,
035but I was glad those results weren't 100%. When I saw 93%, I'm like, "Okay, we've got 93% of our kids ready to graduate in World Geography." That's 7% of our kids that still need that verified credit in order to get a diploma. So, to be able to have another chance at that in another course, say US History in the 11th grade, they have that option because we do this at every grade level. Um so, I I wasn't so much skeptical of the process just because I put so much into a process that was similar to what we use in ELA and English, uh but also is mandated by the VDOE that you have to assess this twice. So, it has to be initially graded by a classroom teacher, that's about to change, uh but nonetheless,
036I think we should still maintain this double scoring. So, it's scored once, and then it's scored um a mass score, or some people call a blind score, by someone else. And then you have to compare those two scores to make sure that they match up. That's what we call interrater reliability to ensure that your understanding of the rubric is similar to my understanding of the rubric and we're assessing at the same level. If those scores are non-touching, then it has to go to a third person to determine what the misunderstanding was and why there was a spectrum between the two scores and why there was a a divergence there. So, that process is something that we follow for all of our assessments. We'll continue to do that even though it won't be necessarily the classroom
037teacher doing it next year. But I have faith in that. I also have faith in our professionals. Our teachers really work hard to do this. I will say this, the multiple-choice test is a lot easier. >> [laughter] >> It requires a lot less effort and it's graded like that. So, this puts a lot on our teachers' shoulders and they have chosen to go in that direction cuz they feel it's better for kids, better for classrooms, better for them as teachers. It speaks to their practices. And you kind of answered all my questions with that, so thank you. That's all I have. Who's next? I have questions. I I one question. >> Not to be on the naysayer side here, but um just just out of curiosity, so going from 2023 to 2024, 76% passing to
03893% the difference from one year to the next is we were teaching differently and scoring differently, right? Correct. So do you suspect that if we to those that say we've made it easier if we continue to teach differently from this jump to this jump, but then also throw in the multiple choice tests in there as well, would that score be higher as well or do you know do you know what I'm saying? I I'm just curious if any of these kids would like to willingly like sure give me another test just for just for fun. I I would I would like to see that. Is it the teaching that is different? Um Is it the scoring that's different? I mean I love seeing these numbers jump obviously, but um I'm just curious as someone who
039right bubbled in all of my tests and everything like that. I'm just curious if maybe like what has made the biggest change? The teaching or is it the scoring? Um and of course you and I have sat down and talked about the IDMs before and I think they're really cool and I would have loved those as a student, but I'm just curious if there any students that want to take an extra test, I would love to I would love to just kind of compare. Um I would be interested to see that data. Unfortunately, state guidelines prevent us from double testing. So if we if a student earns a verified credit through the inquiries, we're not allowed to give them the SOL test. I would like to see if they were passing at a similar pass
040rate on both. Um I I will say this for students who don't pass the inquiries, we do have the option to give them the SOL test at the end of the year and among that group, that's why if you look at the data for like 23-24 we have a pass rate of 66% in world geography. Now that's the 7% of students that year that did not pass the inquiries. So among the the 7% that struggled the most, which might have been 50 to 60 students, we still had a 66% pass rate, which would have been around the state average for schools that are testing everybody. So um we did pretty well there as well. Um I I can't answer your question fully just because it's not apples to apples, oranges to oranges, but I will
041say that I think the benefit is not easier or more lax scoring, it's that three chances to improve. And students can see what they did uh if they scored poorly on IDM one, they have a chance for teacher feedback and then to improve on the second and the third. That's unlike any of our SOL systems currently. Um so that's I think a great strength of the program and might lead to better results. Well, certainly if the SOL tests could be taken three times and given feedback between, we would probably see higher scores there as well. I agree with that statement. Other board members? I have some questions. Um Most of us here on the board are we're familiar with um inquiry-based learning, but parents probably are not. Um and I listen to James Lindsay a
042lot. I don't know if you listen to him, but he talks a lot about inquiry-based learning um project-based learning even. And so if if I was just to try to explain it in a few words to parents, like would this be correct if I said um a question is posed and students through questions, research, trial and error um making claims, finding evidence to support those claims, I think is what you said, um they come up with their own answers. So it I mean if my study is correct, curiosity guides the student. It does. I think that's a strength of it, but I also will say with a caveat that you just can't say anything. Uh you do have to support that with evidence from sources. Students have to explain their argument. There is multiple paths
043to a right answer, which again, multiple choice tests, there's one, right? It's the answer is C. Uh it's not A, B, or D. That's pretty clear. That's pretty cut and dry. It might be a benefit of multiple choice, but it also I think is um I I think one of its in terms of multiple choice assessment, I think that the singular right answer is one of the most difficult things our students confront. And in real life uh questions have multiple answers. So if a student can find two or three paths to the right answer and they can defend that with evidence and an argument I think that's far more relevant in the real world than just picking the right answer by chance being C. Are there at the end of these inquiries, are there right
044answers? There are definitely wrong answers. There are multiple right answers. Uh they're rooted in an understanding of the standards. So in general, yes, there is um a general right answer. >> Do you have an example of those questions? Do the students come up with that at the beginning of the year or is this something that the teacher starts their year off with and this is what we're going to Do you have an example of what they might might start in ninth grade? So our inquiries actually come from the VDOE. So the IDMs are vetted by the state. The compelling questions were developed by VDOE in conjunction with teachers. And like IDM number one for world geography asks how does geography influence where people live? It's a pretty broad question. We decided to root that in
045uh West Virginia because, you know, we live so close to West Virginia. Some of our students are from there. Of course some of them have family there. So the the issues that West Virginia confronts is unique and something that I think our students are probably more aware of than other parts of the country. And we wanted to know why the population of West Virginia was shrinking. It's a very interesting question for a geography class to understand all the things that confront that state, not just in terms of its physical geography. There's a lot of mountains. They're quite beautiful, but it's hard to find places for industry, but also um some of the other issues that they confront uh socioeconomically. So it's a really rich inquiry. So there's multiple things that you could say about why
046the population of West Virginia is shrinking. Um you could answer that in a variety of ways. There are incorrect answers. So we wouldn't of course uh give students credit for something like that, but they can choose from a multitude of sources to explain why West Virginia is confronting the issues that it is. And they would be able to do this in in fourth and eighth grade as well. Yes, I believe so. Claim, evidence, reasoning and of course on a fourth and eighth grade level, but yes, claim, evidence, reasoning is a skill that we teach that is inquiry-based that I think could be applied to kindergarten in some ways. >> Yeah. I think age-appropriate levels. I think because inquiry-based learning has been so um has been praised as being student-centered um and and I would argue
047that a teacher cannot be replaced. Especially in fourth grade. I I I guess that's right. So um I just I don't I guess I don't believe that they're meant to be a bystander in the process. So it worries me that in a classroom that they wouldn't be leading instruction, that the students would be leading themselves. Now I know they're not going to be doing that in fourth grade, but I'm even a little bit concerned about it going on um in a high school level because I think curiosity is important, but it doesn't replace instruction. Um teachers guide, teachers teach and ensure mastery as you know, we've talked about in previous board meetings. So I just if we've been correct for all these years in our thinking that the most effective classrooms are those where students
048are not left to figure things out themselves um what happens when we move to a teaching method when they're where they're doing just that? I I would say with a caveat though, it's a little mix of the two. Uh often times inquiries are based in this dichotomy between content-rich instruction, which sometimes has a little bit more lecture and a little bit more direct instruction, and the project-based learning that's more open-ended and inquiry-based. To me, these IDMs strike the balance between the two. They are content-rich and they are open-ended. Uh so I I think that there's moments where there is structure to the IDM where teachers are teaching. There are moments of direct instruction, but they're scaffolding learning. That's the part that's beautiful about it. We know what the assessment is. We're going to backwards design
049instruction so that it helps students be successful. And it there are moments where it very much is teacher-directed and there are other moments where it's a little bit more open-ended and we give students opportunity to be curious and to think about it critically and not just memorize one right answer, but think about what the multitude of right answers might be. Yeah. I just want to and just in following up on Ms. Burgoin's question about, you know, the the scores, I just want to make sure that we're not weakening instruction in Rockingham County. Um and I worry for those students that aren't really curious. Um you know, those that aren't interested um that inquiry will not really be empowerment. It will be like confusion for them dressed up as innovation. Um and I worry about, you
050know, students that aren't really motivated by things like that. Um I have a friend just to throw out an example, you know put her child in sports. Um he loves to play video games, you know, and often is not interested in the sport at all. And so I I just those children I don't want to get left behind in the mix. Um So those are just kind of some of the things that worries me. Uh I also worry that inquiry leads our students to predetermined answers. And uh specifically I wanted to go back to I hate to I don't It's been so long now, but I think it was in like 2023. We may have been at Penn's and um I don't even know if this was specifically about um inquiry that night, but there
051were students there. They We had partnered with JMU in something. The The question was posed to them is should speech be free be limited or no free speech at all. >> I know this inquiry is in civics actually. >> Something that has bothered me about that and the presentation was well articulated. There was no issue and the students did really awesome. I know they were proud and I was you know I'm I'm proud that we're raising up students to speak so eloquently in public places. Um but what stuck with me meant this many years is that a statement that one of the students made at the end was in the beginning most of us really and this is not verbatim, but you know, in the beginning most of us believed in all free speech, but
052by the end of it we all agreed that well, there some should be some limited. And I'm of the mindset that free speech is the bedrock of our freedom in our country. >> Could not agree more with that statement. So it bothers me um that this type of instruction would lead to a predetermined answer like that. I If I could speak to it, I know the inquiry cuz I wrote it. Um it's one that asks the question do students have the freedom of speech in school? And you know you have a great inquiry question when you look at it and you go, well, it kind of depends. You know, you have to wrestle with that gray because in some cases they do have >> Right. freedoms that should be protected. They are citizens. We have
053a First Amendment for a reason. And we look at the Tinker case in Des Moines, Iowa where, you know, you have this act of symbolic speech. Kids were wearing armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. They didn't disrupt the school learning environment. So the Supreme Court sided with them famously and said that that was their First Amendment right. Uh we look at another case of a student uh and it's a real case. Uh it's JS versus Bethlehem School District where kind of a snarky kid made a uh website about his teacher. It was called teachersucks.com or something like that. Forgive the language, but that's what it was. And uh he was disciplined. Uh it had some uh pretty harsh criticisms of his teacher. It was uh advertised throughout the school day. It disrupted the
054learning environment and he was punished accordingly. And the Supreme Court said, "Sorry, kid. Uh you didn't meet the demand of a non-disruptive speech. You made it harder to teach students in school." And uh they did not uh take the side of the plaintiff in that case. But uh so our kids had to wrestle with those too. And they looked at actually the RCPS discipline policy that talks about the disruptions to the learning environment. The The answers are, well, it kind of depends. Uh I do have freedom of speech in some cases and I don't in others. That is critical thinking. Right. Um So I guess and I and I know I don't mean to put you through a lot. It's just these are all of the thoughts that I've had in my mind over the
055last week or so. Um No, I appreciate it. It's good to clarify this cuz I think inquiry is confusing for a lot >> But I guess yeah, I think um because it is incumbent upon us to approve curriculum and you know the state through the Board of Education sets standards of learning. Um they define what the students are to learn, but it's really up to the board to um implement and to know what's going on in our classrooms. Um I guess my question to you is how can this board approve of inquiry-based learning when we can't really examine the curriculum? Um we don't really know the questions that are being asked except for in settings like this where we can, you know, directly ask. Um And I think if we were to set a baseline
056and to say, you know, we would say we want all curriculum to be transparent for the parents. We want, you know, accountability within the social studies department. And we want what's being taught to align with our values in this county. And I And just in thinking about the free speech thing and I don't remember it in particularly speaking about student speech. And you may be correct. Um that was a rough year. Um but I I wouldn't I guess place a percentage on it, but I would say the majority of people in Rockingham County like they want their students knowing how important it is to have free speech in America. So I want 100% of our students to know that. >> Right. Yeah, I agree. And And they don't have to agree with it, but that
057that's that's the values in this county overwhelmingly, I would say. So just to restate the question with those three things in mind, transparency, accountability, um and with with values um in alignment with our community, how can this board with a clear conscience um approve of this way of learning? And then I'll leave you alone after that. Sure. No, I I appreciate all those questions. So on uh the first instance is transparency. It comes from the Virginia Department of Education. So it is rooted in Virginia standards. It comes from the department. We have the option to implement it. It's not an off-ramp from SLOs. It's just a different type of SLO. So I'd say this is an SOL test. It's just a different type of SOL test. And in my opinion a better one that's aligned
058with curriculum and instruction. But in terms of uh our local values, teachers understand their communities, understand their students. And um our curriculum is set by the state. So, you know, we we unpack that for our kids, of course. But we do so with an understanding of what the expectations are from the state department. Uh those standards were passed in 2023 um under the previous governor. Uh so those are the standards that we will have for the next 7 years before we go through another revisions process. And that's the democratic process of standard revision. Thank you. Sure. Thank you. Could you speak to this? Um we went to a conference uh a few of us and the topic was executive function. And talked a lot about attention deficit, but it also posed the question, what do
059future learners need to look like? You know, it's going to be different with the world of AI in front of us. So the question specifically in one of the lectures was you know, in 2040 what do we want a student to look like? Can you speak to this type of testing with what that might look like? I would be happy to because that's why I'm so passionate about it. I Again, I said when I was here as a student, I was taught social studies in a certain format. It worked for me cuz I liked it, you know, but it was pretty content heavy and it was a lot of rote memory and I just soaked it all up with a sponge cuz again, that spoke to me as a student. It doesn't speak to every
060kid. Um and for social studies for years we have had so much content to teach that when you have such a content heavy curriculum and you have a guessing game multiple choice test that's a perfect storm for rote instruction. Now we'll say to our teachers we find creative ways around that to ensure there's best practice, but it is a pressure and and there are real consequences. I would love to see social studies be more thematic, more encompassing of big ideas and concepts and make time for best practice instruction cuz you only got 180 days. And you only have 36 weeks. And if it's all names, dates, and memorization, our students are not prepared for the future. Because, you know, that's a good Jeopardy contestant. It's not somebody that can live and breathe and function in
061an AI world and think critically for themselves. Claim, evidence, reasoning is high-level functioning. And I do think every kid is curious and can do that. It just takes the art of teaching to make it accessible to them. We've seen great uh advances with our sped kids and our EL kids in particular with this type of assessment. That tells me it's working for everybody. Um I just have one last thing just because they've gotten my wheels turning. Um The IDMs that we're using is there a pool of IDMs they can choose from across the county or is this something that, you know, this this one is required in this class every high school across Rockingham County or how are they because I'm thinking, you know, if I've got a kid at Broadway and Mrs. Hurst has
062a kid at TA, are they doing the same thing or is there just a lot of options to pick from? There is a state bank of inquiries. I find for the purposes of um articulation across the county and consistency and also professional learning that teachers engage in across the county in these grade level teams, uh we do select the same three. So that they can have common conversations across, but they all come from a state bank. You have to do three. So they all come from like in US history it's three eras of history. So you're you're touching on, you know, not everything's in the 20th century that way it's across the broad scope of the And then um like I said, like I would have loved this as a kid because I was the
063um let's work in a group, but I'll do everything kid because I I loved I loved it. But I think about my own kids who need more direction. And you know, if I said to my daughter, "Go into the grocery store and buy dinner." she would panic. If I said, "Go into the grocery store, we're having pasta." she could do that. Is is this a case-by-case basis where maybe we guide one a little more, make that path a little more narrow, or hey, this is your prompt, figure it out. I I would say none of them fall into that category. There's a lot of teacher structure to an IDM. There's questions, tasks, and sources for each day. It's very structured and led by the teacher. And there's moments where we ask them questions and let
064them wrestle in full group discussions, small group discussions, individual responses. All three of those, that's just good practice to vary across the scope of an instructional sequence. And we do all of that. But all of it is differentiated as well to meet various student needs. Um are the teachers being trained in how to score? Yes, we've spent considerable amount of time doing that. >> I I used to score the fourth grade writing test, and um there was very little training. We will We will be doing a lot more of that. I I think I'm just >> [laughter] >> That's how long it took me to grade them. No, I'm just kidding. I would say it'd be the focus of our PD for the first couple of years, the way it was for LABC. Um I
065think one one thing that um would maybe help this board is if we had um if you could send this board the state rubric. Sure. That is used for grading. Um and maybe some of the IDMs that are used in our high schools so we can look at those that are being used. I don't necessarily think we need the state bank. Just what we're using. Um and I also think in in hearing this, um I think probably what needs to be articulated, and maybe you can speak to this or uh but I think there is a difference between writing a persuasive essay and an IDM. Um for example, if we asked our high school students to um write a persuasive essay on the use of cell phones in schools, I bet they could write a
066pretty solid one arguing for its use in schools. I see some smiles from our students in the audience. That's why I picked that topic. Um but that doesn't mean they're right. >> [laughter] >> Sorry. You are very Right. But I I do think >> said. I think I do think that there is a difference in just writing a persuasive essay and learning how to argue Yes. >> versus being given a set of documents that you have to cite evidence for. There's The reason why I say you'd be wrong if you said there's evidence um supporting cell phones in schools. Um I'd love to see that article if you can find one where it's beneficial. We're going to have to see your sources and your claims and your evidence and your reasoning. >> right? Um so
067I think that IDMs are a little bit differently um designed than just an English essay that we would maybe ask students. Much agreed. It's very social studies specific. It's what's called a document-based question or otherwise known as a DBQ. Can I point out one more thing? I think um as I'm listening to you speak, I I'm hearing that you're mentioning all kinds of different types of instruction. It's not just the kids are free to do what they want. It is they're directed first. You said they have questions, tasks, and sources that the teachers use every day. But then there's also guided, maybe where the teacher is, you know, the the the students are doing more work and the teacher is leading them, but not like fully, not direct instruction, sitting down, listening, lecturing. And then
068also then the students go off on their own and do free thinking and come back. And so is that is that accurate? Very accurate, and it's a mix of all three. And it it strikes a good balance, and that's just good instruction to to have all of those structures in place and all of those methodologies. It it is probably the assessments the teachers would complain that they're overly structured >> [snorts] >> um just because you've standardized them. They have to be somewhat overly structured to be a standardized assessment. But your average IDM even has that structure. So the only other the other quadrant of that in in education is the co-opted sort of like the teacher takes over and makes things So I think that's what Holly was speaking to, maybe that like the teacher
069could influence the this And correct me if I'm wrong. Um is is that protected against? That the teacher might >> Oh, absolutely. Inquiry is the antithesis of indoctrination. It is the solution to that in a classroom because it provides an uh one, it privileges student argumentation, and as long as they cite their sources and make a verified claim, that's what we want in social studies. You know, we don't want a particular right answer. A particular singular right answer is indoctrination by definition. Uh so we're trying to get away from that. Uh so that's the irony I think that's at play. >> [laughter] >> Are there any other questions? Thank you, Mr. Dickinson. Appreciate your time and help in explaining all all the parts and pieces. Likewise. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay. You're up, Mr.
070Moyers. Is that right? I have next on my list Justin Moyers. He's going to be here for a few items. First up is digital ticketing for athletic events. So first of all, though, I do have a scantron machine in my office if you would like it. I do. Yes. One of your geography teachers gave it to me. You should I was just going to say it should be kept for artifacts. So first for me tonight, uh I wanted to come to talk to you all about digital ticketing. So this is something that we have started doing with our athletic events the last few years, where we sell passes online, we sell tickets ahead of time online for athletic events, and we also um in the last two years have sold tickets at the gate with
071debit and credit cards, depending on the school that you've been at. And after a lot of discussions with athletic directors and the principals, we would like to move to that completely starting next year. We no longer will take cash at athletic events. Um there's a couple main reasons for that. First of all is is a tremendous lift for labor because when we have cash, we have to have multiple ticket takers uh to make sure that there's segregation of duties and that people cannot walk away with the cash. Um so that would save our um schools money. Two, it would save them trying to find people because it is very hard to find ticket takers for all these events, especially in the spring. We may have three or four events going on at once. Um the
072second thing is, especially in the fall at football games and then basketball some as well, we have tremendous amount of gates and revenue. And that is not a situation that we would like to continue to have that kind of cash and um keeping it on hand. We would like to go ticketless. How it would work, we would still offer all the season passes that we do now, which is what most of our families purchase. Uh we'll still offer in advance people to buy tickets online that they can show their cell phone, show their stubs. And then at the gate we would um be able to you'd be able to use your cell phone to pay that way, or we would take credit and debit cards via like a square device um that we have been
073currently. So it's something that we've talked about. I seem to have uh full support from all the four high schools. Um for now, this would just be for athletics. We would start looking about it for other events um as they come up, but athletics is the first one um that we need to start with. Um but yeah, so I wanted to bring it to y'all's attention and to get your thoughts. Do you have a specific vendor that all the high schools and middle schools are going to be using so it's all the same system for accounting? >> be for the middle schools yet because they're not on the system, but the high schools all have GoFan. And everything is is put in there um currently. And so we would continue to to utilize them for
074those services. Is there any possibility to have, say, I'm just thinking out loud here. I I just know when my son's football team sold, you know, the Blazer cards one year that were physical, they made a bunch of money, and then the next year they tried an online app only, and a lot of people who would have previously purchased them were like, nope, I don't want an app. And so they didn't purchase them, and then they switched back. Is there an option to say like maybe sell paper versions of tickets like in the office of the school or something that people could buy a collection of tickets and just have them so that if they don't want to have an app on their phone or or something like that? Is there >> That's That's something
075we can look at. I don't have anything right offhand, but the things you get sent now are QR codes that you could print them off now. We could offer some kind of service like that. Probably it wouldn't be an issue. Is this for our information tonight and then to vote at the next meeting? Correct. And so how it would work, our fees our our ticket prices would remain the same next year, but there is a dollar surcharge per ticket when you purchase them um through GoFan cuz that is their charge. So we will have to pass that on, but we're not raising our ticket prices um for individual games otherwise. So they'll stay the same for all the events that they are now. But but our our if What do we pay charge for tickets
076right now? Seven bucks? Yes. But essentially it will be eight. Correct. Got it. Yes. Um and like you said you that you would have like a square device or something. Is there any other overhead to move to this? I assume this is going to cost less. No. In the end we'll save money. Okay. Yes. And then the second thing I wanted to say was it sounds like this is a good argument for cell phones in schools for being able to get their tickets to athletic events. So >> They all buy passes before the season starts. >> [laughter] >> Wait, how will we save money? Did I miss that part? Cuz we'll no longer be paying ticket takers. So, right now at the gate, you have to have one person that counts the tickets and one
077person that counts the money. >> For uh $15 an hour, $14 an hour. And I'm not paying them, the schools are paying them. So, this is a savings to the school cuz they'll no longer have that cost. How many hours a night do they get paid for? It depend on the event. At least two The minimum is 2 and 1/2 >> So, they're at least making $30. So, what happens if say grandma and grandpa show up? And So, what I've been instructed Yeah, what I've been If I've instructed is, especially the first few weeks, we're going to let them in. We're not going to charge them. And then we'll let them know the policies going forward, but we're not going to We're going to There's going to be an educational period where that's going to
078happen. But I think that'll be less and less as we as we go on throughout the semester. So, are we just going to do it like for the first three games? Or are we going to have to remember what grandma and grandpa look like? Well, they won't I mean, I'm not setting a limit, right? That'll be up for the school to enforce. Cuz I mean, like yeah, sometimes I just go to one game. Yeah. There's a difference between an honest mistake and then you realize somebody's abusing the system, right? So, that'll be up for the athletic directors to to enforce. That's not We're not going to make a hard stance on that, right? We want our parents at the game. I think that um there are going to be some people that don't want that
079app or don't want to do it digitally, but I mean, if I'm inviting my children's grandparents to come, I'm saying, "Hey, here's the list of Here's the list." I think most people would probably do it this way. Here's the list of games. Here's the dates. Which ones do you want to come to? I'll take care of getting your tickets for you so that you don't have to you know So, you don't have to download the app and I don't have to It's my I don't have I'm going to say this. So, I don't have to walk my parent You know, I don't have to walk my parents through how to download the app and how to get a username and how you know, I'll be like, "Let me handle that for you." He's not here
080to defend himself. That's >> Remember, you won't you won't need an app, right? So, it We also take cards, right? So, as long as you have a debit or credit card, you don't you don't need an app. You don't need a smartphone. So, it's not even That's just really easy then. Correct. Everybody has a credit card or a debit card. And and there will be an instance every now and then, but I think it will be um small. Now, the one thing that the ADs have told me, most of our families are buying season passes. Most of the cash that we take at the gate are from visiting fans, right? So, just like when we go other places that's cashless only, we just Yeah, we figure it out. Are we ready for the next? >>
081one more. Could we I I'm not a fan of this idea. I'm just going to tell you, but I in thinking about the prices, I mean, could we go down a dollar? And then the charge would still be seven and give that other dollar to If you want >> I would love to go back to the days where it was like $3. Well, so those days have passed us. Well, >> Unless you all want to start giving our schools hundreds of thousands of dollars, we're at the rates that we're at. And And here's here's the main problem, right? We have a tremendous amount of people that watch these games online. We get very little income from that. Up until this year, we got none. Right? So, we are we are starting to lose money in
082all these athletic events, but they all cost more now than they ever have. So, one of the athletic director shared with me the other week, tennis balls just for the tennis season, $1,000, right? Helmets for football season, thousands of dollars every year, right? Our athletic teams are struggling to just break even. We haven't raised our rates in a long time. Like it it's it's tough on them to continue to maintain our the what we have with the money that they have coming in. But yeah, I mean, we could lower it, but then they will they will need to be subsidized by us cuz they they won't be able to afford the decrease. So, I'm not saying we can't. It's just something the board would then have to vote to approve to to send money to
083them to make up the difference. And I don't know what a dollar would cost us. This I have to look into that um just to see. Just to speak I'm one of the people that buys the pass at the beginning of the year. So, I I'm not sure from buying individual tickets. If you just buy the the pass, which is well worth it if you go to any number of events, you just pay the fee once, right? So, you save on that dollar charge. >> It is a huge savings to buy the pass. I don't know what it will work out to game. Obviously, it depends how many games you go to, but if you hit all football games and you hit some spring and winter sports, you're not paying near the per game ticket
084price. Is there I guess I'm just assuming football. Is there a sport that brings in Like I'm I'm just thinking for the board, could we say at football games next year uh next season, we will have one gate that accepts cash just to accommodate for just one last year just the cash thing um and then every other gate because how many times do you go through lines and it's This one's cash only. This is cards and whatever. Um could we I'm certainly we could do that as a board. Is there like football brings in a ton of cash, basketball doesn't, or do you even know? It's kind of a mixed bag. >> Football by far brings in the most cash, but basketball also brings in a lot. Volleyball does as well. Those are typically one
085gates. Sometimes, depending on the school, they may have two. Um but football is by far our biggest driver. That's half of our cash coming in. And I I know that would be a pain, but to have one gate that did accept cash maybe just for the next season is an option. Just to just to kind of get people on that right track. >> I would say maybe have that option for three games as you transition. That's mean. We're trying to go cashless. As a football As a football parent, I would also say I've had the opposite problem going to away games where they only take cash and I never have it. So, then I've been stuck at a gate like, "Can I borrow some money, please?" So, it you It works both ways. You can
086also find a friend of Venmo. You know, I'll buy you I'll pay you cash or I'll Venmo you the cash and you can do the app for me, you know? I mean, like there's ways around it. Are we ready for Okay, I've got one more question. Nope. Sorry. Uh you mentioned we're looking at doing other things cashless. Do we and I think I know the answer and you can get back to me if you need to, but for like food booths at the fair and those types of things. We're not We're not there yet for those things. Not cashless, but do we at least have a credit option? Do we have availability of a credit option? Sometimes. It depends. Right? So, our only our only way to take credit cards now is through GoFan. GoFan
087is strictly been used for athletics. It could be leveraged to use it for other things, but it requires setup on the front end. Um we do so um accept credit cards through MySchoolBucks at the high schools for some student fees and some other things, but that's not used too often. And then obviously, we do for food service as well. So, those are kind of our two vendors, but I don't have a device yet that I could just hand a teacher to take money at the fair. Like a We don't do Squares? No. And the biggest reason against anything like that right now is we need to be in control of what that device is attached to and where that money goes. GoFan, no one can change the like it comes into a check to the
088athletic department. Um MySchoolBucks, I'm the only one that has access to change the account to change it to what bank account that goes to. If these Square devices, if we don't secure them properly, somebody could attach it to their iPad and put their home savings account on it and we'd never realize that we were missing gate revenue. So, not saying we can't do things like that, we're just not there yet. Um but those things are coming. For the record, I love for us to get there with field trips. And we're looking at that. >> that to you before. There's There's got to be a way we can at the school level take payment instead of having teachers being field trip accountants where you're checking in like, "Okay, I've got the chaperone money for this one
089and the This one was a check and you got to write that down and send it to the bookkeeper." If we could get away from We're working on that. Through ParentSquare, eventually that will be something that we have the option of. It won't be we select debit and credit cards in the office. There's a whole other level security when you take cards in person and if they're going through our servers. These GoFan devices are actually on their own server. Correct. So, it's a lot easier to lift for us to make sure we're in compliance. Um so, this is just getting us kind of started of where we may be 5 years from now. Let's go. Where does money from concessions go? Does that go straight to the athletic department? >> is all the boosters. That
090is the boosters club. So, they If they want to still take cash, that's on them. I don't control what the boosters does. So, that will be completely on them if they choose to still take cash at their concessions. >> Do they have an option to not take cash though? They take cards now. Some of the boosters do. And how are we doing on that? I'm not I don't control the boosters. It's not part of RCPS. So, lots of boosters has Venmo, cash, >> Yeah. credit cards, Square. Yeah. It's not through RCPS, so we don't manage that at all. Boosters are completely separate. The faces because So, like FCCLA cannot take cannot use Square at the fairgrounds because it's FCCLA. Yeah, cuz it's part of us. But band boosters can take That's like a PTO. Yeah,
091if FCCLA has their own booster club, they're welcome to. But if they're part of our organization, it's [laughter] different. Okay. Thank you. Are we ready for the next topic, board members? All right, Mr. Moyers, staffing ratios. So, I gave you a one-page kind of summary. And we have other ratios, but this is kind of giving an idea. Um Dr. Schiff and I were talking about this over the last couple of weeks. And as I've talked to different people, different um employee groups, and different things the last few weeks, we want to kind of make sure that people understand with 24 different schools, we try to make sure that we keep everyone on a equal playing field. And that really goes for staffing. Right? So, we have ratios that drive a almost all the staffing on
092a school-wide basis um for every school to make sure that we're trying to be consistent among the schools, and that Folks Run is being treated no different than Audubon, or Cub Run's being no treated differently than South River. So, um I'll just go down this list to kind of go over some of the ratios that we do have. Like I said, this isn't exhaustive. I do know that we have some ratios for clerical staff that I couldn't get my hands on before I presented tonight. Um and there's a few others, too, that we have that we kind of use as a general rule of thumb. So, first of all, um one of the biggest ratios we have is elementary teachers per student. So, we have state guidelines that we have must follow, and then we
093have our own guidelines that fall below the state requirements that we try to make sure that we keep staffing ratio adequate for Rockingham County Public Schools. So, kindergarten is 19 students to one teacher. First, second, and third grade is 22 students, and fourth and fifth grade is 24 to one students to teacher. So, we look at these ratios constantly, especially now until the beginning of school. We identify any hotspots or low spots, and we try to make sure that we shift staff accordingly to meet these ratios. And then if we know we have a class that's going to get close to the top, we'll either look about adding an extra assistant if we're going to be over just maybe one student, or if we know we're going to be over several, then we'll add a
094teacher at a at a grade level. The next level of um ratios that I want to draw your attention to is our TLC teachers and assistants. So, TLC are the reading teachers and assistants that we put throughout all the elementary schools, and also the middle school. And we have certain ratios that we follow per school to determine what each school gets. And these ratios have been around for a long time. We have adjusted them some cuz they do work in coordination with Title I, and what um we get funding for Title I, we also use for reading specialists and assistants as well. So, we try to kind of put the two together. So, for TLC, uh the first 200 students in a building is you're it's basically you get a half a teacher, one assistant.
095200 to 300 students, you get one teacher, one assistant. 300 to 400 um students, two teachers to one assistant. 400 to 500 students, you get two and a half teachers to one assistant. And then 500 plus, you get two and a half teachers and two assistants. So, this is something that we look at every budget season with our elementary um teach elementary schools along with our Title I funding for the next year, and that's how we develop staffing for our reading specialists and reading assistants in the at the elementary level. The next group of employees that we um look at are elementary full-time assistants. So, these are something we put in place right around the time of COVID to help with teachers and professional development, especially when we were implementing letters. Um so, assistants are
096based on the maximum number of teachers in a grade level at a school. So, if there if the most grade levels most teachers in a grade level is four, then we give four full-time assistants to that school. If the most in a grade level at a school is three, they get three assistants, and so forth. And the reason that is based on that is cuz that's how many assistants we need to provide time for the teachers to step out of the classroom for their professional development. The next um set of ratios is for lunchroom monitors. This number has stayed very consistent over the last several years, but basically less than 375 students, you get two lunchroom monitors. Between 375 and 530, you get three. 530 to 680, you get four. And then 680 plus, you
097get five. Um then if you follow down there further, we talk about elementary assistant principals and administrative interns. So, less than 300 students in a building, you get uh no administra- no assistant principal or administrative intern. The only time that would not be the case is if we do feel like you have a lot of specialized programs, like autism classes, or other specialized programs in your building, we may look at adding one provide um support there, but otherwise we hold true to that. 300 to 400, you get an administrative intern. 400 to 600, you get one assistant principal. And then 600 plus, you get one assistant principal and an admin intern. And these are all on the elementary level. And something that I should point out here, so these are our ratios. The state of
098Virginia would give us one half-time assistant principal for all of our elementary schools in total if we followed what they fund us. So, they would Cub Run would be the only school we would get help, and it would be a half-time. They wouldn't even fund a full-time position. I think that I was going to ask you to share a little bit about that because I think that's an important um thing for people to understand is that we um I cannot imagine being in one of our I mean, Cub Run, how many Cub Run has an assistant principal >> admin intern. an admin intern. I cannot imagine what that would be like to only have half. Two days a week. Yeah. Right, three and a half days a week. >> lot of our larger schools have
099an assistant principal. >> Right. Um and I think it's important to acknowledge that the the role of um administrator has changed since the '50s. Yes. So, that's on the elementary level. >> it said, "Well, what does a principal do all day?" I mean, you know, well, you know, this is coming from maybe a historic perspective of, you know, if you made a phone call home, the parents would take care of the discipline for you. It's just a little bit different nowadays. Um and the behaviors we see and and the level of um support that some of our our students need. And So, I think it's important I I support what we're doing here, that we're going above and beyond, and I think a good many people do. It's just sometimes I think they don't understand.
100Um times are different even in the last 15 years. And the same thing goes for our high schools. The state would fund us two assistant principals per high school. We fund three. Right? And I it would be it would be very hard for us to have that have what we need without having all three of them in every building. Um the next one. As I said, we we look at ratios for everything to make sure we're being consistent. We have a ratio for custodians. So, approximately for 21,000 square feet, we have one custodian with number of two with a with a minimum of two. So, as we're adding additions and things to these buildings, we look when the total square footage changes, and we add a custodian in these buildings where necessary to make sure
101that we're treating them all equally. And that we we think that's a good then number for the buildings to be um cleaned and kept up adequately. Uh the last two. So, EL teachers. This is a new ratio that the state um put in place last year, as you may recall, we added 13 EL teachers last in last year's budget. And the reason for this was the new staffing ratios that the state now requires. So, that's all based on our EL student population and where they are on the WIDA screener. So, there's levels one through four. When you're considered level one, you're supposed to have a ratio of no more than 20 to one. Level two, 30 to one. Level three, 40 to one. Level four, 50 to one. And then WIDA scores five and six,
102100 to one. And we look at this at a division-wide level. We look at it every year around the budget time. We download all the kids, where they're at in their EL journey, and then we see what staffing the state requires, and then we make sure we have adequate staffing as a division, and then we put them in the schools where we see the need. Um and then the last um group I have on here is special education teachers and assistants. So, um we more than meet what the state requires in most places. We do a lot better than what the state does. So, for a general special education teacher, the caseload is typically 24 to one is the max. For an elementary general assistant, typically what we like to see in our ratios is
103we have one general assistant at the elementary level per general teacher. And then for adapted teachers, typically we keep our caseloads at 10 to one, and we usually have much more assistance in there than what's required by the state. Um 10 to one is not always the case. It depends what you're an adapted teacher of. Sometimes certain um disabilities require a lower ratio, and we make sure we meet those accordingly. Um but typically 10 to one is the normal. So, these are just some of the ratios we use. As I said, I we just want to kind of get out there just so you all know we don't pick and choose favorites, right? Sometimes I think schools we call and talk about different things like this, they think, "Man, why are you being so hard
104on us?" Well, cuz we have 23 other schools we're making sure we're keeping all in line, too. Um but we wanted to give you an an idea of how this works and where the numbers come from. Board members, do you have any questions about staffing ratios for Mr. Moyers? And this is not an all-inclusive list. I mean, there's >> others. Yeah. Like our CTE classes have specific, like 20 to one, is it? They have specific requirements as far as what enrollment can be in a class. We base a lot of stuff at the secondary level based on student requests. So if we have a lot of requests for a subject, we either give extra sections, we'll hire extra teachers. It just depends on what the subject area is. But that's why we might have two
105act teachers in one building and one in another because the demand for those classes is higher, right? And so we we do that every year budget season, too. We sit down with all the middle and high school principals. We look at all the course requests. We see what topics we need to provide more of or which ones, you know what, we might not be offered this because we haven't had enough requests. So it's a lot. So It is. It's >> It's a lot of things to look at and you guys have very good luck in this. It holds us accountable, right? Cuz I don't want to pick and choose favorites and neither does Dr. Shifflet or anybody else. We just want to make sure that we're trying to be as equal-handed as we can. Unless
106you're Jay Frank, right? >> [laughter] >> I went to pants, so I'm And did you say you look at this every year or who who looks at this year over year? >> team along with the principals. Depends on which ratio. Sometimes I'm the one that looks at and depending on what we're looking at, most of them it's human resources. Some custodians is maintenance, right? They they report to me on the square footage. It's kind of all of us. And two things. Number one, how do you adapt to changes with maybe growth or additional students, numbers rise, numbers drop. And then secondly, um I feel for the custodians. I kind of think there should also be a second where, you know, 21,000 square feet and or um X amount of students because you may have you
107know, I'm just thinking about Broadway and maybe there's an influx of students while we can keep them there, we don't increase the amount of custodians, but there's a lot more traffic and a lot more students um and activities and sports and all the things. But um then I then my first question was um how are we adapting to this yearly as things change, maybe numbers drop, numbers rise. So we look [clears throat] at enrollment numbers constantly. Now some of these things, once we set them at the beginning of the year, we don't change them unless something is crazy, right? So sped's a perfect example. We may have one assistant per teacher and then the year comes and a teach a student comes in that has significant needs, they may need a one-on-one, right? We're we
108hire that. We're not going to say, "Well, nope, you didn't meet your ratio on September 15th, so you're not getting an assistant, right? That's That's not how this works. It's same thing with enrollment, right? We we try to make sure we're kind of set by July, but if August 15th rolled around and five new kids came into the same classroom, we would make the necessary adjustments. The square footage doesn't change as often, right? So that's that's easy to keep up with. And like TLC, the elementary system principals, EL teachers, that's usually one time a year we'll look at that unless there was something drastic that changes. We wouldn't usually touch that again. So during the school year, obviously you'll add people, but then yearly you may if if a school no longer requires X amount
109of assistants or teachers or or whatever. I'm I'm looking like at EL the different levels, you may shuffle those teachers around to other areas. >> Yes. And we try really hard not to move teachers or assistants out of a building, right? Hopefully we can keep them in that building, but if the time comes, especially teachers when we're looking at enrollment, if we have to cut a teacher in a grade level and there's nowhere else for that teacher to go, then we will have a conversation about, "Well, hey, we really could use you over here." Um that doesn't happen as often, but it does happen. Any other questions on staffing ratios? Okay, Mr. Moyer's, next topic, capital improvement plan update. Okay, last one. So I wanted to give you a little update on our capital improvement
110plan. Um we have a lot of construction going on right now and a lot to keep up with. So first things first, current projects under construction. So Elk Run Elementary School renovation will be complete in August of 2026. So we're almost at the finish line. Uh they're working on the kitchen now, which is one of the final steps. They'll be working on the front office in the front area next several months and everything will be ready before the start of the school year. If you haven't had a chance to see that building, it is phenomenal. We are going here in about a month, I think, to take a little tour, May 26th, I think. And when you go through the parts that we are finished with, you would not know you're not in a brand
111new building. Um and so the best part for me was going in about 8-10 months ago when we just had the first couple sections that were finished and you could also see the sections that we had not touched and I mean it's night and day difference. And we did not replace everything. Like we re- we reused a ton of flooring where we were able to kind of strip down the wax and polish it and it still looks great. Sometimes there were certain fixtures and furnitures or bulletin boards that were still in good shape, we kept. And we always are conscious about that, but for the most part, that whole school has been touched from from the bottom to the top and it it looks great. Uh Pleasant Valley Elementary School addition, that will also be
112complete in August of 26. That is also moving very quickly. They will have the gym done not too far off. I know the flooring for the gym is going to be here in the next couple weeks. And then they'll once they get into the new gym, then they'll be able to start doing construction on the old gym to make classrooms out of it. So We're we're making the old gym the gym at Oh, the gym, not the cafeteria. >> No, the cafeteria stays. The cafeteria will get bigger because we're moving the stage. >> You're moving the stage? Because I felt the flute on the stage. I did not learn how to play the flute. I tried. I held the flute. So Well, if you would like to have like a >> a little piece of
113wood, that would be all >> Well, I was going to say when we have like a grand ceremony to open the new gym with the stage, if you would like to play the flute. >> I cannot play the flute. I can only hold the flute. So >> [laughter] >> Is that Pleasant Valley Elementary? Yes. I went to elementary school there. So did I and when Mrs. Hurst and I toured it, I I was in a um Oh gosh, we had a talent show and I read a Oh, I'm sorry. I had I had her take a picture of me on the stage before they tore it down, which yes, I'm with you there. >> So they're they're working through that, right? And so it's it's going really well. They needed a new gym because they
114updated capacity because they needed a space they could hold the entire student body. And that And they're also putting a stage there so they can start doing more stuff there and then by moving the stage, we will make the cafeteria bigger, which will be needed. Um with all the growth that's going on that area and that's the one school this year we've really have seen growth. Um I'm really glad that we're doing that project. And then the final um projects right now that is under construction is Maggacks Mill Elementary. That will be done in the August of 27. It is not near as far as long as the other two cuz we just started this winter, but they are moving quickly with the addition first of all. Um and then this summer we'll start being
115heavy on starting to renovate classrooms. Um so that's also going well. And um so we look forward to that. Then the next thing I want to talk to you all about is future projects. The biggest of which is the Spotswood High School renovation and addition. Based on our current schedule, the construction would start in the fall of 2028. And I know sometimes people feel that's far away, but that's really two and a half years at most. Like it it will be here before we know it. I mean we're we're planning for it quickly. Um we had a facility assessment study that was completed by our architects on March 31st, 2026. And I wanted to share a little bit of that study tonight um just so you all are aware of kind of what we're looking
116at for this renovation and addition. And so what I'm going to go over isn't all-inclusive. They are strictly plans. Nothing is set in stone. It's just what areas are we looking at when we're talking about renovating the school and also making an addition. So the two main goals with this project is number one, increase the capacity from 11,000 1,016 students to approximately 1,250. Couple reasons for that. Number one, they are in our urban growth area. They are by far projected to receive the most growth in the next 10 years. So we will need that capacity with that to keep us from having to redistrict more than what we might have to anyway. And two, um all the other three high schools are already at 1,250 and this keeps all our schools the same size. It's
117good for a lot of reasons, one of which is VHSL activities to make sure they all stay in the same um or class So the second biggest um goal we have is to determine the highest and best use of existing facilities. And basically that's a fancy way of saying we want to look at everything and anything that does not work, we want to fix it to make it right. Whether that um means, you know, we used to have all these corridors that went to classroom. You had to walk through a corridor to get to a classroom cuz it kind of segregated the classroom from the hallway. Well, we're not really doing that anymore. Like we're looking at all these spaces. And so this is the time that we will kind of what we want our
118high school to look like for the next 50 years cuz the hope is whatever we do in 2028, we will not touch again until 2078. Which I may or may not be alive at that point. I know I will not be working for the schools that I'm positive of. Unless times have gotten really tough. So um a couple of the things that we're looking at that we're going to affect. So here the main recommendations that have come from our architect with meetings with the building principal, uh Steve Reed, the maintenance department, lots of other stakeholders. And like I said, this list is not exhaustive. There's a lot of other stuff in this report that I'm not mentioning. And all of this could change, but this is kind of the general idea of where we are
119going with Spotswood. So, one of the first big things is right now the shops building is separate from the rest of the school. We want to eliminate that and make that all part of the existing facility. And there'll be a lot of moving parts in that, but it will and when we're done, the ag and the technology wing would all be part of the of the major part of the high school. We wouldn't have two separate buildings anymore. Two, we do not have adequate office space to meet the needs of 1,250 students. So, there will be an increase in office space. The gym floor is going to need to be replaced. So, you know, we refinish the floor every year. Some years we sand it. We're getting to the point where we can't sand anymore
120cuz there's nothing left to sand. So, that will be part of the process. Uh we will update the cafeteria layout and expand the kitchen. Obviously, once again to accommodate additional students. The way we do lunch and breakfast now has changed a little bit than when this building was designed in the late 70s, early 80s. Uh create a theater room. That's something that's been requested from the high school. Create a new sped suite. So, anybody that knows anything about Spotswood knows how endearing those programs are to the school. And right now they basically take over the small commons most of the day. We are going to look at reimagine what that suite looks like to accomplish it with the school kind of how they want it now and provide them much better space. Um provide ADA
121parking across campus. Some places have that really well, others do not. So, that's all going to be reevaluated. Complete mechanical, HVAC, electrical, plumbing upgrades where necessary. So, what I will say is almost all of that is necessary everywhere, but this is really this is where all the money's going to go and this is where we are ripping out the guts of what has been there since the building was opened. And all kinds of things have changed. There's more efficiencies we can we can get. So, that that'll be a a majority of the work is in that area. Revise the second floor layout. That's some of the classroom space that they want to look at changing around how it looks. Um if you go to the next page, replace the roof system, replace windows, exterior doors,
122metal wall panels, repair damaged brick, replace ceilings, update finishes, repair damaged terrazzo floor, update restrooms, remove lockers. Cuz much to my chagrin, I don't know why, we do not use lockers anymore. I'm told it's a discipline issue, but anytime people ask me, "Where are the kids going to keep such and such?" I just tell them, "Well, they have lockers." But I'm not a teacher, so. Anyway, so as I've said, this is kind of just a list of what we're looking at. Kind of like what you will see with our Channel Elementary. When you go inside Spotswood in four years, you won't realize you're not at a brand new school, right? That I mean, that is our goal and the goal is then for it to last 50 years and we're not going to be back
123there touching it again. Um so all that will require significant investment on the county's behalf, which we've been, you know, talking with them a lot about the needs of this building and what the costs will be. So, we'll have a lot of discussions with them and go over that. Um it is in the five-year CIP plan as it is currently written. Um but I just wanted to kind of give you all a overview of where we're at and say that I know it seems far away, but it's it's closer than we think. Um so, I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have on any of the projects um that we went over tonight. Thank you, Mr. Myers. Board members, do you have any questions about this this topic? On the Spotswood renovation, um
124we're updating the cafeteria layout and expanding the kitchen. Are we adding air conditioning to the kitchen? Yes, it will get added. When we When we renovate spaces, we add it. We don't go We don't go back currently to schools that aren't being renovated, but it will get added in in the new spaces, yes. So, is Elkton going to be air conditioned their their kitchen as well? I'd have to check, but I'm fairly certain, yes. That's awesome. >> And what about Maggotsville as well? It should, yeah. But I'd have to check. I haven't seen the plans. I'll have to check on that to be sure. But I'm pretty sure that's something we update now going forward. And it could be the whole thing may not be. It could be select areas, right? Mhm. But but a
125lot of our schools none of it is currently. So. There'll at least be a cool place in the kitchen. Correct. That's awesome. And um since we're uh improving our H back, electrical, all that, are we getting any grants for energy efficiencies? No, there's nothing out there for really for us currently, but you know, one of the main things and what we've talked about a lot with the roof. So, when we do the roof, we'll be putting new insulation in the building. And so by doing all that stuff at once, the the roof will last so much longer than if we did the roof now and then came in two years later and replaced all the HVAC and wanted to do insulation, we would not be able to do those things efficiently. Um and we would
126lose years of life on the roof, the roof that we had just put down. And so, that's why we're trying to do everything we can to get to 2028 knowing that it is a little bit of a heartburn, but yeah, we'll be touching all that stuff um and it'll be much better than what it is now. Thank you, Mr. Myers. >> Yeah. Appreciate your time and expertise. Thank you. Board members, the um other item for information is the financial review for March of 2026. Um and that is provided in your packet. That concludes our information um our information items for tonight and that moves us into superintendent comments. Dr. Shiflett. Thank you, Chair Hurst. Um first of all, I'd like to give a big shout out to MTC and their job fair that they hosted
127last week for their second-year students and I think they also invited some other um county divisions to participate, but but our students had an opportunity to um solicit interviews and I think they have many of them are in the process of receiving their interviews and looking to secure uh employment after graduation, which is part of our three E's, right? When students graduate, we want them to be employed, enrolled, or enlisted. So, um was really happy to see that take place. Um also had an opportunity on Friday to visit Montpelier Middle School STEM Day, uh which was uh I think they've been doing that I believe uh Mrs. Webb, who coordinated that, said she's been doing that since Michael, my our son was an eighth grader there. So, uh been doing that for a while and
128uh was really great to see all the community partners who came in to be a part of that day uh and and to give the students these opportunities for some hands-on learning and to kind of see um sort of a little bit deeper approach into what they're doing. Also had a chance on Friday to observe Mrs. Irons teaching some um digestive um uh obstacle course for the students at Goochland, which was really really cool to see that. Uh she actually did that last year at um Peak View and I got to see that in action as well. So, it's a really good I think really beneficial way to take something that's kind of abstract and make it concrete for student learning, which is very important. Um like to just give a quick update. I I
129do I think plan at our next school board meeting Mrs. Abernathy is going to give us the board an update on our comprehensive instructional program, uh referred to as CIP, uh just so the board is very aware. I know I've mentioned it a couple of times in my comments, but I'll ask Mrs. Abernathy to give us a detailed uh presentation of all the nuances of that program. I'm really excited about that. And then uh lastly, I would like to see I know I I believe our board members have penciled in some dates in May, I think perhaps May 6th and May 20th for some potential meetings. I would love to see if we could get a works uh session scheduled for one of those two dates. Um Mrs. Abernathy I think has a a draft
130couple of drafts of the 27-28 calendar. We also want to finalize uh some work with the high school schedule. Uh Mr. Hutton has expressed an interest in talking to the board about um increasing the rigor for our second-year students at MTC. So, I think if we could pick one of those two dates to schedule that work session, that would be wonderful. I don't know if if one of those dates um is better suited to the board members or not, but I would like to um at least start planning for one of those two dates if possible. Thank you, Dr. Shiflett. Um that moves us into other business, school board highlights, questions, and comments. Uh I'm going to actually start this this evening. But only because the the one item um I want to discuss I
131think needs a little bit of board discussion. Uh just in the last couple of years, we've had a number of conversations among board members about uh reasonable parameters on technology usage in the classroom. The evidence is mounting. Uh there's multiple research studies that are showing that excessive screen time is not good for kids. Uh it's impedes learning and there's there's a lot more to it. But I I think um I and I haven't spoken to everybody, but this would be your time to affirm or say say what you're thinking. But I would like to see a proposal uh for a policy from Dr. Shiflett regarding reasonable parameters on technology usage usage for this coming fall. I me personally, I would love to see minimal to no screen time in early childhood education focusing on on
132play and research or I'm sorry, research recess. Elementary and middle, Uh I feel like there's there's some things there that technology could be strategically used for and allowed for short focused purposeful screen usage. But I also think the same applies to high school. And um so what I what I would like to maybe see is board affirmation. Would you all like to see a policy sooner rather than later for technology usage in the classroom as it pertains to Chromebooks and iPads? Uh would you like to see that? Would you like And when would you like to see that by? Please discuss. Um I think the beginning of this coming school year. And I >> For implementation. Um And to be clear, you're talking about creating policy that guides We're going to I I think we
133need to have a policy. Yeah, I do too. Um Do Do we need to talk tonight about specific parameters like K through 2, no screen, 3 through 5? So do we need to set that now? >> think we need to have a discussion with I don't think we need to probably hammer out the specifics. I think it in my head I would like to um have Dr. Shifflett bring us a policy thinking about all the different layers that are involved. Uh what what's important? What do we really need the screen time for? What do we really need the technology for? Where do we want to see our students spending most of their time? What types of activities? So I would like to see a proposal or a policy proposal from Dr. Shifflett and then we
134could maybe have further discussion about changes we want to see at that point. But I I would definitely say if you feel really strongly about something, you can feel free to say it tonight or maybe you want to think about it and call Dr. Shifflett with hey, this is kind of where I'm at. I would like to um get this done sooner rather than later and put it out and let our teachers who are experts weigh in because I mean like I can tell you I like Chromebooks and I like it I want kids to be able to understand how to use them before they go off to college. But I'm not an expert. And I don't know how much is going on in the classroom. So I would like to hear from our teachers.
135I would like to have plenty of time for um our staff to review the policy and give us feedback. And maybe even do like a listening tour like we did with the uh the uh field trips. The field trip policy. And as a matter of discussion, I think it's important to state that I know when we're referring to technology, there's all kinds of technology that we use in our schools. For example, today when I was I was at Peak View doing the human body digestive system stuff again, but with additional experiences in the morning. And you know, we're using the smart board. We're using the document cams. We're using So when we I think we're referring to one-to-one screen usage, correct? Yes, as I'm defining it, I do not mean teachers and their devices or
136their presentation software. I'm referring to the amount of times that students are directly interacting with their one-to-one device. That's a great question that we need to clarify. In my head, we I'm not looking to restrict teachers from saying you can't you can't be on your Chromebook or or anything like that. I think it's totally appropriate to have presentations from the teacher on the smart board. We're not looking at that. I'm looking at the types of work that students are doing on their Chromebooks and on their iPads. Sorry, Mrs. Laura. Yeah, we're over here side barring. We're trying to plan our listening tour already. Yeah, so what Mrs. Laura and I were just talking about was how can we get this done before the end of the year where we can hustle to you know, Linville,
137Plains, John C, J Frank, Broadway. Um who am I forgetting? Folks run. Hilliard, yes. All all of the you know, and we can kind of she and I tag team those and um talk to staff and things quickly to get some feedback. But I'm all for it. And I'll be honest, I was a little apprehensive when we scaled back. I was all for scaling back, but um I remember my daughter in third grade being so excited because they had free time on their Chromebooks, right? And she was like chomping at the bit to get to school on time so she could have free time. And um we took that away and I thought, gosh, we're going to have kids who are not going to be running into school anymore. Um and that didn't happen. And
138so that made me really happy because I think that the kids they when they have it, they they want it. And then when it's just not an option, they're okay with it. Um and so uh I that was pleasantly surprised with that. But I would definitely like to see it scaled back a lot. I uh To to be fair, I have you know, I have two teenage sons who will not be thrilled to hear their mother advocating for such a thing. Um but I I also think that there's some misuse of Chromebooks at times. And we're here for the purpose of educating kids and that needs to be our focus. So I will just say I have I have two teenage boys. I know I know that what I'm doing up here impacts them and
139they'll have some things to say about it. They definitely had said things to say about the cell phone policy when we passed that last year. Chair, could we um I just heard it mentioned we want to get on this quickly. I just pulled out my phone, looked at the calendar, and realized uh this is April the 27th and practically May. So uh that means we do have to move move quickly or maybe yours truly has to move very quickly on this. So I'm wondering if I go back to my previous conversation about a work session like if we could circle the wagons like on May 6th for a work session and this could be something we could bring in as a rough draft. And and then at least you would have it for information and
140then could then at that point start having some meetings if you'd like to do that and you know, listening tours or what whatever you want to you know, call that or refer to that. Um because the other big piece is hopefully maybe the 1st of June, maybe even at the last meeting in in May, we'll have a new grading and and promotion policy as well coming to the board. So a lot of big changes coming in Rockingham County Public Schools with with some of these initiatives. So um are are the board members available for a work session May 6th? Let me just ask that here um and see if we can determine yes or no. Sires has it on her calendar. Mr. Burgoin? Well, that's one of those penciled in dates that we we hold
141in case we need it. >> Yes, it was a pencil. So I'm I'm asking can we use it now? We Can we say we need it? Yeah. I'm I'm available. Mrs. Laura, do you know or do you >> Well, I'm supposed I've got Ag Science Fair stuff that I've got to get done by May 15th. And then um you know, the rest of my life. We'll we'll talk, Mrs. Laura. We'll work something out. I'll send out an email, board members. Just be on the lookout for that. Okay, other school board highlights, questions, and comments. Mrs. Laura? Thank you. I guess I won't leave that the rest of my life comment hanging too long and it guess guess it gave me a pretty decent segue. I need to thank particularly uh Hilliard for hosting us tonight
142and the rest of the board for kind of covering for me earlier cuz if this meeting had not been in Hilliard, I'm so glad it was here tonight. I probably wouldn't have made I've got a lot on my plate these days and I'm going to go ahead and say Dad, I hope you're listening and I love you. Because um I'm not sure how much time I get to spend with him moving forward. I'll say it that way. And then um so thank you all for being so so welcoming tonight. I see some of my my Spotswood friends here. It's not some students from Spotswood. Glad to have you guys here. It it really means a lot to me to have some smiling faces in the audience. And I think do we have some other students
143back here? No? Um well, welcome to Spotswood uh and welcome Spotswood to Hilliard. Welcome to the Spotswood students. Um and thank you all thank you especially to my my fellow board members for helping me out tonight. And also thank you to Amy Payner. I've been driving I I it's spring, so I'm driving buses everywhere. Uh I'm supposed to go on four canoeing trips and I took three three trips to downtown DC on the school bus. And special thanks to William Laura for riding shotgun with me so that we didn't hit anything. I brought all three buses back. Well, I brought them back and then we had one break down between here and my house, so that was good. Um and then quick thanking from the Broadway staff getting me in a new bus. Um but
144there was one trip that I had to to step out and uh Amy Payner was nice enough to step in for me. So thank you to everyone. And you know, it's just a great lesson in life. You really don't know what everybody else is going through. So, be kind, be nice, be willing to help out your fellow man because it really does make a difference. And I'm going to leave it at that. Thank you all. Thank you, Ms. Flora. Ms. Bourgoin. It's hard to follow that. But, we are here for you, absolutely. And um this, you know, when we all got on the board, everybody kind of was their own person. I didn't know anybody up here until, you know, we started working together and it becomes like a little family that is always changing.
145Um we don't always, you know, agree on things and but we we all come together as a team. So, we, you know, I I remember before I was even on the board, my grandmother passed away after I had been elected and showed up in Illinois and there was flowers from my my future board. And so, that was just a precursor to how this would become just a little family. So, anyways, yeah, I've been really busy running to a bunch of schools, went to the Broadway High School government fair, not fair, government field trip. That was a blast. Um went to the MTC job fair. >> And let me also thank you for covering that for me cuz I had to leave that early as well. So, thank you. I'm sorry. Um yes, of course. And
146yeah, we just try to try to tag team things and try to get to all the schools and I went to a Montvideo their STEM fair, which was amazing. Really, really cool experience. It really feels like the end of the year and there are 26 days left for the record. My kids are ready, but I like seeing that schools do these things where the kids can get out of the classroom and run around the halls and in the gym and all over the place and do fun things. Um So, yeah, I've just I've been all over the place. So, I'm ready for it to slow down a little bit, but I don't think it ever does on this board. We always create new things to keep ourselves busy. >> [laughter] >> Indeed. Thank you, Ms.
147Bourgoin. Ms. Cave. I don't have anything tonight. Okay. Ms. Irons. Um well, first I just wanted to give a shout out to my son AJ. It's his 10th birthday today and my family graciously rescheduled all the birthday festivities for yesterday so that I could be here. Also, my daughter was competing in the regional track meet this afternoon, so I had to miss that as well. Um but much like many other parents in the world, we can't always be there for everything and it's my privilege to be here serving the county. So, um just wanted to say thank you to my family though for their understanding. Um I have a couple things I want to plant some seeds for tonight cuz I know I love a meeting, but not everybody wants to meet all the time
148with me. So, I'm going to do it now. >> [laughter] >> Um but one thing that happened yesterday when I wrote my son his birthday card, he then had me read it out loud to him because he can't read cursive. And so, that reminded me that I would really like to put that on our agenda for things that we do in Rockingham County. I know some teachers do it. I'm even working with my own son to teach him, but you know, it takes a while. So, I think something I've been saying for 20 years is I really believe that every single person, student in Rockingham County and everywhere should be every American really should be able to read the Constitution in its original form, not printed on the internet, not like in out like in
149the actual handwriting. And so, I'm really glad that Beau was here tonight presenting on social studies as well because another seed I'd like to plant is it's always and I mentioned this at my first meeting back in January, but it's always bothered me that we our students don't actually learn the 50 states and the capitals. And so, I would like to see Rockingham County lead in like in that initiative to create maybe like our own Rockingham County civics program and US geography. And that's a really well placed thing for like a fifth grade. And I know that we have a space in our So, I'd love to get, you know, talk with the board about whether you would like to support that or not. Um especially as we talked about the IDMs tonight. Um and
150then lastly, again, I went to a conference with a few other people. It was called Learning in the Brain. It was about executive function, which for those of you who don't maybe don't know what that is. It's like organizing, being able to plan and think ahead and uh manage tasks, etc. Um and it also talked a lot about ADHD and it described ADHD in a way that I had never heard it, but it made so much sense to me, especially as a parent of someone with ADHD. Um So, just like we develop speech in a sequence, like a 1-year-old has 10 words by the age of 1 and then, you know, by the age of 2 maybe 10 to 20 words and 1 to 2 word sentences and so on. And just like we develop
151motor skills from crawling, walking, running sequentially, executive function is also a part of the brain that develops in such a pattern. And ADHD, either type, is a delay in that development. It often looks like forgetfulness or inattention or laziness. And I think we can do a better job serving our students and serving those students as populations of students better doesn't hurt anyone else. Everyone benefits from this. Um I think speaking to the technology part, I'd like to see this in the policy too because one of the things that happens with ADHD is like my someone a student opens up a Chromebook and it takes six clicks to find the assignment. Oh, and then wait, three more clicks to get back to the classwork. Oh, wait, maybe there was an assignment. Oh, something popped up. I
152got an email. So, and that's hard for anyone that doesn't have ADHD. And no, I don't. I do not have it. But, I know lots of people that do. So, >> [laughter] >> So, I think that that technology, you know, that our policy goes hand-in-hand with supporting students that are like that and even again, those that aren't cuz these devices are easily distracting. Um and then on top of that, the other thing I'm super passionate about if you've been paying attention to anything, I'm a fitness instructor. I love health and nutrition and I teach a lot of it as a professional job. And in the conference, they talked a lot about active playful learning and all the research that supports that. And so, I would love to see you have my full support to get
153one-to-one devices out of K through 2 just tomorrow and and start putting in that guided active play cuz the research supports it. And I would say all for elementary, but I'll start with K through 2. So, anyway, I'll wrap that all up for um the conference was awesome. I just want to say thank you to the county for sending us cuz it was incredible. There's still a lot to take in and learn and apply. And so, I'm and I'm grateful for the board and Dr. Shiflett who are all all ears to that information and ready to apply it for the benefit of our students and teachers. Thank you, Ms. Irons. I'll close out by thanking Mrs. Wooters and Hilliard Middle School admin team for hosting us tonight. Thank you for providing dinner and conversation and
154for hosting us this evening. We appreciate your hospitality. And with that, I think if there's nothing else, I think we're ready to conclude this board meeting. We went a little bit long this evening. I do apologize for that, but we had several information items that needed our attention. There's nothing further, this meeting's adjourned. Thank you all for coming out tonight.