001e like to ask board members to report to the front please [Music] I'm not I'm make it quick 659 I know do you think I should up to you only you know how badly [Music] Happ like I'm okay Mr Cross you in like to call this meeting of the Rockingham County School SCH board to order thank you all for being here this evening we need to begin our meeting by approval of the agenda and I will entertain a motion in that regard if it be your desire I move that we approve the agenda thank you Dr mcquilkin is there a second second thank you Miss lore any questions or comments hearing none all those in favor of approval of the agenda please say I I I any opposed that is 40 U Mr Faulk is
002on his way back from California this evening so we are one board member short at this time I would like to ask that all who are able please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge Al to the flag of the United States of America to the for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you all at this time I would ask that you join in a moment of silence e thank you all next we will move to recognitions and presentations miss abery good evening thank you chairman Breeden I'd like to welcome all the school board members and our superintendent Dr shy de Broadway High School tonight along with our central office personnel and our guests in the audience we're a month into the start of
003the school year and I'm happy to report that all is going well our staff has done a great job in welcoming our students to their classrooms and our students are engaged in the learning process I do want to take this opportunity to thank Dr Sho and the school board members for providing the resources and the opportunities for our students to receive a top-notch education with your support our staff has created an environment for students to have positive attitudes and perceptions about learning and we're excited to incorporate artha Costa and Bena cic's habits of mind the 16 essential characteristics for succcess into student individualized goal setting our professional development committee met last week um to begin the planning for this process we're hoping to introduce this with our students here soon so moving on the program
004tonight I'll begin with our character counts and volunteer the year recognitions so at this time if Savannah Fox and her parents could come down front please Savannah is joined tonight by her parents Jason and Jennifer Fox Savannah will be a June 2023 graduate her future plans are to attend a four-year college and major in biology and she wants to attend graduate school either in med school or law school so she's going to figure that out uh in the coming months so it is my distinct pleasure to introduce Savannah Fox as one of two recipients of the Britney lamb Kelly cogill character counts recognition Savannah demonstrates kindness and has a smile to offer to all she encounters Miss Andis shares these sentiments Savannah is one of the most diligent students I've ever had the pleasure to
005teach she's an incredibly hard worker and an incredibly smart young lady even more impressive however is her innate kindness she's a student that I can assign to work with anyone and she will not only work well with that student but she will end up making a friend in the process she always walks in the room with a smile and always leaves with a kind comment it has been a true blessing to get to know her and svan is environmental science AP environmental science and track coach Mr Ernie states that she is a wonderful student who is very caring and dedicated Savannah never Shi away from working hard and helping others congratulations Savannah and thank you for being such a good role model for our students to follow hey Savannah um on behalf of our school
006board I would like to give you a few items of recog nition the first is a pen because the uh Kelly cogsdale Britney lamb Britney tell me your name again Britney lamb Britney lamb thank you I just blanked for a moment names are hard for me sometimes um but Britney lamb is very as a person very close to our Chairman's heart and Kelly cogsdale was a person who was very close to my heart I'm getting all emotional now um and as a result this is this is an honor that we like to bestow on you and give you a PIN to wear close to your heart so we have a pin and then we introduced your parents can you tell us their names again please even though it's right here um Jennifer and Jason Fox
007Jennifer and Jason thank you so much I know you're super proud of Savannah and um it we understand that character begins at home so thank you for for giving us such a wonderful student and we have a pla or a certificate for you to hang on your wall to to show how proud you are of her and then we also have a gift certificate to CLI that you can share with your parents or you can just use for yourself or it sounds like you might use it with a friend but um because this is such a sweet award we want to give you a sweet uh certificate for that so and thank you again for everything okay if I can call AAC woters and his parents if they can come down front please Isaac is
008joined tonight with his parents Justin and Amy woters he also will be a June 2023 graduate his future plans are to attend a military academy and be an Roc member he wants to major in aerospace engineering and eventually become a Navy pilot so we're very proud of Isaac I'm pleased to introduce to you Isaac woters as our second recipient of the Britany Lam Kelly cogil character counts recognition Isaac's AP US History teacher Miss inis States the following about Isaac Isaac is not the most vocal student in my class but when he chooses to speak it is obvious his classmates hold him in high regard he has a calm and flexible personality that allows him to interact well with everyone he comes into contact with on numerous occasions I witnessed Isaac purposefully saying something kind to
009a struggling friend he is encouraging and positive in all of his interaction and is a true pleasure to teach on the football field coach Grog remarks Isaac is a young man who stands for everything you would want in a student athlete he handles his business in school by going above and beyond in the classroom on the football field he's one of the most coachable young men have ever been around he's the total package congratulations Isaac we appreciate you and thank you for your leadership and positive outlook that you share with others thank you so much for being such a good role model to our students Isaac and thank you uh I'll let you say their name so you get some public speaking in uh Amy and Justin woters Amy and Justin woters thank you guys
010for for being such great parents and and showing Isaac character and I believe we all know but I want to share with the group um how hard and how big an achievement this is in Broadway High School my kids go to Broadway have gone to Broadway it's there's a lot of really great kids here so for you to be you and Savannah to be the top the charact the highest character that really says a lot so thank you for for being great role models and thank you for for being great leaders in our school oh and you have you also get the the pen for do you want me to do it the pen for your heart thank you and the certificate for your wall and the client's gift card so thank you all and
011if Sharon Arman trout could come forward please it's my distinct pleasure to recognize Sharon armantrout as our volunteer of the Year Sharon has been a booster club member for nine years and has served as the chairperson for the past 7 years not only does she bring energy and enthusiasm to help our teams but she also brings profession professionalism a servants heart and creative ideas to the club even though Sharon's own children graduated from Broadway a few years ago she continues to work tirelessly in support of our coaches in all vhsl Athletics and activities Miss Arman trout shares these sentiments supporting our community Through the BHS athletic boosters has been both challenging and rewarding at the same time our group has been able to provide uniforms to our teams through concessions donations and fundraising activities we
012have also provided multiple wish list items over the years that complement their fundraising initiatives it warms my heart to see the impact of our booster team working together to support our athletes thank you for your Le leadership Sharon and continue support of our students and I believe that this might be your last year with us according to Mr Ritter so we appreciate the time it's time I guess for you to graduate your students have graduated quite a few years ago we appreciate the time that you've been here with us thank you thank you so much Sharon thank you so much for all the work you've done for the children of Broadway High School we both know what amazing students these are and what just a phenomenal place this is so thank you for all your
013work and for your I guess retirement we have a certificate for your wall and then also a gift certificate to Klein's Dairy Bar that we hope you enjoy thank you very much do you oh you can do you want to your people did you bring people tonight I brought my husband my husband's here Carrie Arman trout um now and now I have to share my clients Derry bar gift certificate with him say he knows that I have one but thank you very much thank you and yes you do have to share with him because he shared you with us all these years and speaking from someone who has a a spouse at home a Widow uh the a a community service Widow yeah he deserves it too so thank you Carrie for for your support
014as well let's give all of our uh recipients another round of applause and at this time it's my pleasure to introduce math teacher Kate Hollenberg and Seth Stratford a business and marketing teacher who also has his technology education degree to come forward and share some aspects of their Fusion course geometry and construction good evening I'm Kate Hollenberg I'm the geometry side of our fusion class and I'm Seth straford I'm the construction teacher and we want to thank you for the opportunity to share a little bit about geometry and construction all right so what is geometry and construction we like to talk about it as the answer to the question when will I ever use this in in the real world um so geometry uh is taught in the context of where can I use this
015particularly in the lens of construction and all the trades that go along with it um we did receive training and a curriculum through contextual learning LLC based out of uh Colorado this is our third year uh teaching this class um and the first year we only had 10 students the second year we had 19 currently we have 16 we have had a few that dropped out because of MTC classes but it's a a program that we are growing and uh we look forward to Growing even more so most of the rest of this is just showing you what we do because that's the best way to explain it um so we'll try not to talk as much and just look up here but these are some math specific activities that we've done um we're over
016here measuring the light pole out in front of the school using shadows and similar triangles um and then the right three pictures are we actually went out and measured the slope of the handicap ramps we did the slope of some stairs which are not pictured and then the slope of a hill and talked about the need for things to be parallel in terms of the handrail and the ramp this is a few of the things that our first year students said that they liked about the class um students completed many projects including the design logo you see in the right upper right hand corner um each year they all design a a logo for the class and the students actually vote then on the logo they would like on the shirt so this this is
017actually the first Year's logo and this is last year's logo and the logo that you see up there was done by Alex Green from last year as well um it was a it was a very close second but it we like it so much that we use it um in our Instagram page and everything like that so so the first year we started this program uh we began it the year that Co was with us and instruction was virtual and we were trying to think creatively about how to get kids to do construction when they couldn't even come into school so um we also wanted an opportunity a service type project and so we had students who were able come in and help us build um desks that we donated to students for them to
018use at home for their virtual learning needs we also sold a few to raise some money for those supplies and actually a couple of them are right over here today with some equipment on them so we're happy to see The Leftovers being used here um so you can kind of get a sense of what those look like um we like the idea of giving back to our community and we also tied in the really key piece of writing thank you letters and it was amazing how many students had never written a thank you letter and didn't know how to address an envelope so we addressed that as well uh the first day of class this year uh students got their hands Dirty by assembling two nesting boxes and chicken runs and this was part of
019the good food School Market uh program here at the school and they will be used um by a and FFA to raise chickens for eggs and um for meat uh as part of that program one of the other projects we did last year um was to create some cornhall boards this was also a collaboration project where the art Department um the geometry and construction kids built them and designed them the art students painted them and the family and consumer science department um made the bags some other projects that we did last year included a giant jengus set for the health department this involved the students having to figure out exactly how many 2x4s they needed to purchase to be able to cut out all the pieces in order to start off with a Jenga set
02036 in high it also gave them an opportunity to get uh practice using their um circular saw skills and learning how to do that we also created some rehearsal boxes for the drama Department um that they use now every year as part of the curriculum in the program students uh get to build a set of stairs because believe it or not there is a lot of right triangles that happen in stairs uh so there are some great math applications in there as well um this is pictures from both of the years um the first year we built two sets and the second year we built three sets we haven't gotten to that project yet this year but we designed them for a purpose which is why they all look a little bit different so we
021ask who needs a set of stairs and then we design it um specifically for that and the students have to figure out all the math that goes along with it width and height and all the the Riser height and all that kind of stuff so over the first two years we had a shelf project um the choir Department were storing all their music in file cabinets and they wanted um a different system so the first year U we figured out exactly how many bookshelves would need to be built in order to house all the music that they had and then designed um some shelves and the first year we built four sets of shelves that were're on the back wall and then the second year we built another actually five sets on the back wall
022and then the second year we built the four in front and installed it so that they are actually on Wheels and can move back and forth they can access all the music and then each year so far we've been able to do a Capstone project where we've built um a full-size shed first year it was a 8 by 12 shed um where they're they're obviously using all kinds of geometry in order to build that uh it also required them to do some and blueprint reading and each of them built uh a scale model um before we built the the full scale and so this is uh the first year shed we put it together right outside behind the auditorium and then it was transported to um the owner's site um and the owner I know
023is very happy with it um and then uh this past year we built another one um for the tech ed program where they stored their electric car um and that was just an a smaller shed slightly smaller but uh the same principle and actually included a scallet as well one of the my favorite pieces of the second year of our program last year is we actually built a partnership um with a surveying company in Stanton and they came in they worked with us um and did a project with the students actually surveying um where the addition is going to go on at the back of Broadway High School so the students got to actually look at a blueprint plan of what is going to be added on and the we passed it to the surveying
024company they printed as you can see giant size layouts like they would work with um and the students got to measure and calculate using some skills and then we went outside and got to use the surveying equipment and mark off the corners just like they would do if they were going to actually survey out a building and so I think that was a really cool opportunity for the kids to try out some things and see some different um opportunities within the construction trade so that's that's really where we want to go to is build Partnerships um with the community and uh we do have a website that is linked in the um presentation that you can go to we invite everybody here to follow us on Instagram and Facebook um there's that's how you get
025to the Instagram page Broadway orgic and then BHS geometry and construction on Facebook so we're always obviously looking for donations and for those Community Partnerships and there's more information on the website on how to do that does anybody have any questions questions board members I think it sounds wonderful thank you all y appreciate it thank you Mr Stratford and miss hollberg for presenting this tonight we're very excited about the application of this class in our building and what our students are learning so um thank you for their uh dedication and their collaboration together so that ends our presentation portion for the evening thank you thank you thank you yeah okay congratulations to all those who were recognized and to um all the presenters this evening we really appreciate it it's good to be able to
026get back out and and see and hear some of those things firsthand next we're going to move into uh comments from the public uh as always we will have a timer uh there will be 3 minutes I will gavel when there's 30 seconds left so that you don't have to be so focused on the on the timer I would ask because we do have several folks that uh want to speak uh that you hold your applause uh for any speaker until they've stopped so that it does not use up any of their three minute time where we can't hear what's going on so please cooperate with us on that so that we can give everybody the opportunity to complete the remarks that they want to remake want to make and I'm going to apologize up
027front um if I mispronounce your name I'm sorry and uh feel free to correct me and and um what I will try to do is I will try to call on a speaker and say who's next so that that person can sort of be uh readying themselves to come up uh as the next speaker with that having been said the first person that we'll call upon is Sandy mser followed by Zach Nicholson School members and parents my name is Sandy mser I am a lifelong resident of the area my children my husband and I all graduated from Rockingham County Public Schools sadly our Public Schools no longer respect the majority of our students or the authority of the students parents I am concerned and care about those students who are struggling with gender identity but
028I also care about those other students struggling with their own identity issues most children struggle to fit in sometime during their youth why do only those that deal with gender identity have more rights than those who struggle for other reasons respect kindness does not mean that a small handful of students have the right to be in charge of our schools students can be respected and loved without having the use of the bathroom of their choice or the name they choose for them El where's the respect from the majority of our students who have to deal with getting in trouble if they use the wrong name or pronoun for a fellow student where's the respect for our teachers who have to always be on edge that they don't call a student by the wrong name or
029gender then get called out by that student reported and more respect is given to the student than the teacher and this is a true story from in Rockingham County Schools where's the respect for the parents who birth these students and therefore have a right to determine the values under which they are raised where had the schools gotten the idea that their values are superior to the parents as school board members you are very generously giving your time to serve on this board therefore you obviously are concerned with the welfare of our children but that should be all of our children not just those that demand respect you need to take a stand for the silent majority of students not just those who are in your face suicide is rampant in all of our youth disputes
030with parents go back to the beginning of time how many of you agreed with your parents when you all were teenagers this does not make the home unsafe or unsupportive the best way to help all students is through through cooperation between the school and the parents that means communication communication communication with parents not shutting the parents out teaching our children to respect their parents not push them away any children the children belong to their parents not the government therefore I urge you to vote for Parental Communications by supporting the proposed parental notification policy thank you for all your time and hard work thank than [Applause] you zck Nicholson followed by Ashley Saunders good evening I'm Zach Nicholson chair Breen I know we've had our disagreements but I must give credit word is due last meeting
031you suggested a sample policy from another school regarding social media ethics and behavior for board members to follow and that it's a two-way street I know this is about as close to apology as I will get however without seeing the actual document I would support efforts on the media policy you submitt it if it mens relationships between board and parents as you mentioned civility is a two-way street I agree with that however that does not mean that advocating for my children simply stops to keep peace or that one stands allei by and becomes a doormat I do not want every meeting to have a toxic nature of sentiment however I refer this board to the 1964 Supreme Court case of suvin versus the New York Times in their decision the judges wrote this nation is
032founded on the National commitment to the principle that the debate on public comment shall be uninhibited robust and wide open and that it may very well include vehement costic and public attacks on officials of government again I do not wish this to be the tone for every meeting I'm simply pointing out that there are times this will happen and when it does it is protected by constitutional case law now regarding the name change policy there are many arguments for and against this so I'll start with the biggest arguments against it one argument is that parents who wish to be notified of the name change could be abusive I have a big issue with that statement if that that statement is true then it must also be true that parents could be abusive over other things
033a school notifies a parent for for instance fighting bullying bad grad skipping class and substance abuse and when these issues arise a school points parents to resources and counseling but for a kid potentially expressing gender dysphoria we isolate and is left to his teachers discretion if the suicidal rate of the trans Community is roughly 40% why wouldn't parents be notified concerning mental health it's as if all other parental decisions and guidance of acting within the realm of Parenthood and parental notification are okay but once a child expresses a change in gender we must pump the brakes and reevaluate a parents judgment here that's nonsense just because a parent isn't immediately affirming a child's self- diagnosis does not mean child abuse the idea that some in the medical community just simply affirm affirms a diagnosis before
034any investigation is done is ridiculous that' be like a patient saying they had cancer and want chemo so they get it without any test or safeguards medical safeguards under current policy if a student approaches rcps staff with the thoughts of self harm or suicide are parents notified isn't the risk of a very small percentage of potentially abusive parents being informed better than that student actually committing suicide or harming themselves I think the question then becomes Which percentage is greater 40% suicidal rate in trans or the percentage of parents who are notified that would be abusive regardless there are conversations where parents need to have a seat at the table and we shouldn't have to ask the school if it's okay to sit here it should not be the role of schools to play judge and
035jury when it comes to parents acting well within their legal rights but also well within the realm of Parenthood and what that involves I'm not transphobic just because I think straight please vote Yes on the name change policy thank you thank [Music] you Ashley s Saunders followed by Kelly to is it toiet I'm sorry my name is Ashley Saunders I'm a mother of two children in Rockingham County Public Schools my son who has graduated is trans and attended rcps through 12 governor yunan and cross have asked schools to out trans students to their parents in the name of parental rights but what happens when a parent is fulfilling affirming and says yes please call my child by this name use these program pronouns as requested I will tell you parents who affirm their trans students
036are hit with dead end after dead end day after day you cannot change their name in power school you are at the discretion of the administration as to what rights your child has within the school system it does not keep teachers from dead naming your children from the wrong names being used in the yearbook and as we learned last year at Broadway High School's graduation the wrong name being called at graduation these parents are being denied the right to fully affirm their children children and this is why the trans protections were so important in 2020 I am forever grateful for the staff and teachers who affirmed and fully embraced my son and they are the reason he graduated high school and is now thriving in college as a parent according to governor yunan and Mr
037Cross I have the right to say my child can go by anything I choose and yet when you get down to it there's nothing in place to actually protect my rights in the school system for my son or any other trans students to live fully as themselves the parents rights that are being protected are those who would insist their child be CIS straight and Christian at all costs the parents who had punish their children into being straight who had forced their children to pray their C queer away some who wouldn't hesitate to physically harmed their children or kick them out these are stories I have been told Time and Time and Time Again by members of Rockingham County who attended our public schools and I stand here today to argue that Mr cross's anti-lgbtq beliefs
038disqualify him from bringing forth any policy regarding those students Matt from the pulpit of his church has declared homosexuality a sin he causes congregation not to affirm anyone who is gay and calls them to boldness his anti-lgbtq bias and his unconstitutional insistence on bringing his religious beliefs into this school board disqualifies him from writing policy that affects trans and queer students that he does not agree should exist to the trans and queer students of Rockingham County Public Schools you are loved you are seen and there are many fighting for you and we won't stop and I promise you as long as there is air in my lungs and a beat in my heart I will protect you the best that I can because trans and queer rights are human rights and every student has a
039right to a safe and equal education regardless of race gender sexual orientation or socioeconomic status Telly if you would State your last name for us so that we've got a a record and then and then uh next will be Michael stemple my last name is teodoro okay thank you my name is Kelly I am a parent of two kids at Rocky County high schools um my youngest is trans um this year he is fully out at the school and we are lucky enough to have a very good and embracive environment for him the difference in this last year in his schooling has been amazing the last couple years he didn't want to go to college he didn't want to be in activities he didn't want to really do anything this year he's involved in drama
040he's involved in one act he's talking about going to college he is feeling himself and is just morac miraculous in the difference in the change he said to me the other day if doctor Governor yin's policiy pass and he has to go back to being dead named at school or his teachers feel that they can go back to dead naming him he would rather drop out then continue in high school these anti-trans policies are detrimental to our children they are detrimental to our society and our school system he is a driving student in this school he is just a miraculous person but what I'm afraid of is that they're going to take steps backwards sorry I'm not very good at public speaking but I just feel like in these policies and the things that he's
041hearing from the school board and from teachers and from D Governor young kin are telling him he is bad that his way of life is not good and that he is just not worthy of the love and respect that he should be getting especially at school I also feel he has several friends that are not able to come out at home they're out at school they are out with their friends they are out with their teachers but they are not allowed to be out at home for their safety and this policy that's going to allow teachers to call parents and out them is a safety hazard for them thanks thank you Mike stample followed by Patrick Fritz uh members of the board uh thank you for opportunity to speak today my name is Mike stle
042I'm from Broadway my three children attended rcps K through five um so uh Governor yunan uh January uh 2022 no matter who you voted for I pledge to be your Advocate your voice your Governor um I'm going to focus on the de the model policy that yunen has proposed as I believe the policy uh proposed by cross it's a foregone conclusion what's going to happen um the the yunan doe policy does not follow the for one it does not follow the guidance given by Virginia code that it Stites as its statut statutory Authority the section uh 22 122 which is about supposed to be about uh trans uh students and their uh policies in school it's um it it doesn't it focus a lot on parental rights which if you look at the case law
043that it that is established like there's four of the cases cited as part of the parental rights thing have to do with uh visitation and uh like um visitation like the students you know like if you're a parent you need fighting for visit a and things and then two of the one of the policies was like a Amish family so they could stop having school you know just have k through eight schooling and the other po the other case law that was cited had to do with uh mandatory public school instead of like allowing people was a 1926 ruling that said that you could uh uh yeah that all in Oregon that all people had to attend public school and that was ruled down so those are that's the case law so it's not relevant
044none of those you know apply to specifically how you inform parents about you know medical information or personal information none of that addresses that um and more importantly the Virginia doe policy proposed by yunan is harmful to trans students as been pointed out by my friends here um so I want to ask the question why would a Schoolboard member why would a governor Target children and use them as political ponds why why would that happen I mean what is underneath us we know it's uh to consolidate political power we know it's about you know motivating the base um because the policy was obviously not well written not well thought out um but I think under underlying all of this is fear and uh like underneath like if you think about the belief system of some
045of our folks um I come from a Christian tradition and I I remember a verse from uh 1 John 4:8 perfect love casts out fear I think of my daughter when she is went to her first pride parade with and standing with her partner with a smile on her face able to be fully who she was perfect love cast out fear even my voice shakes right now I'm kind of like a little bit nervous perfect love and I looked at my community right here my loving Community perfect love cast out fear and that's what I want you all to remember perfect love cast out fear Patrick Fritz followed by Caitlyn low uh good evening board uh Miss abery thank you for letting us use your school as always love seeing you here um obviously uh
046Matthew's policy is stupid um it should obviously not be passed but we'll let the court settle that out um but moving on I'm going to talk about the thing that's near and dear to my heart um our our performing art students again as we're coming into the to the funding season and looking at budgets um I'm GNA again talk about Transportation I've looked it up we went after your suggestion measured the buses there's just no way we can make those work they're they're simply not wide enough for our types of things um so I did look at some different resale sites and we're looking at um like box trucks like a like a a Herz truck right with a with the lift gate um as we're moving on and and as we look at those
047things they do have have government prices but the public prices are anywhere between 38 and $45,000 depending on Miles um so um with with four County high schools that are again depending on parents uh driving their own vehicles and and Hauling these trailers I mean just just last weekend alone um we had to drive up to hearnen we had two parents driving their their own vehicles with you know gas at $3 and you know $3 $33.40 a gallon uh towing a a 50,000 lb trailer full of band equipment um that's just that's a lot to ask that's a lot to ask our our parents to do um so as as we move forward and and kind of the budget season there taking a look and and possibly finding a way to to you know maybe
048over the next four or five years uh work one in per you know one one per year in um into the the schools there um and again as always you know our Fine Arts teachers are putting in just as many hours just as much work with just as many kids as um our our Athletics coaches yet um their pay and their stiping aren't um nearly I mean when we have you know band teachers and parents reaching into their pockets to to buy food for kids cuz concessions are you know $10 for a burger and and a soda um and we've got something like 40% of our students that are on free and reduced lunch I mean it's we you know I know I know we're asking for a lot but um our teachers deserve that
049um and our kids deserve to be safe and bigots um have no place making policy in our schools Caitlyn low followed by Sabrina Abdullah my name is Caitlyn low I am a senior at Turner Ashby and I'm here to represent the Turner Ashby 2023 senior class in regards to the proposed foone policy directed towards high schools in the county our main objective is to communicate why along with lunchtime and the five minute transition between classes The Advisory period should be excluded from this policy I as well as a group of my classmates created a survey which was sent to the senior class and hopes to gain a better understanding of the common concerns among the student population 98% of the respondents answered that they do not support the policy however 43% of the respondents answered
050that they were willing to accept the policy if phones were allowed in advisory one of the major concerns is how this will affect the mental health of students as we use this time during the day at our own judgment whether this be decompressing or completing schoolwork one of the most rewarding Parts about advisory is the freedom of phone discretion in the aspect that we have the capacity to decide what is needed to get through the rest of this 7our school day many students who responded to the survey mentioned listening to music during the advisory period without access to phones this would be almost unattainable as most music platforms are blocked on the school issued Chromebooks along with most YouTube videos although advisory may be a short time it is crucial for students to communicate with
051family coaches and employers as they will not have this freedom for most of their day Along by also by restricting phone use and independent times such as advisory students will be more inclined to use their phones during lunchtime this may lead to a decrease in socialization among students and their peers at a time when face-to-face interaction is greatly encouraged another major concern is revoking the students ability to maintain self-discipline when it comes to having their phone it would be more helpful to students if they could develop their own sense of self-regulation since this skill would carry over into their future After High School whether that be direct directly into the workforce or college to reiterate we as students anticipate the approval of this phone policy however we hope that with more perspective on advisory that
052you may reconsider how beneficial it would be to include advisory as a time where phones are permitted thank you Sabrina Abdula followed by Mark Flanders good evening everyone my name is Sabrina Abdullah I'm also a senior at terer Ashby and I'm here to speak on matters that will be impacted with the proposed cell phone policy so my main concern with this is the language barrier between English language Learners and teachers and and it's great due to the lack of interpreters at school many students that have recently arrived to our school district not speaking English don't have the proper Outlets to communicate with which results in them being left behind in a sense a large portion of them rely on cell phones as a quick way to communicate through the use of translator apps and without
053them would be had a great dis the same situation could be applied to parents that don't speak English calling the front desk office isn't always an option when a parent can't speak the language which is why students should be able to keep in contact with them if an eer were to transpire how would non-english speaking parents be able to contact their students stepping back even further how would Guardians and students in general be able to keep in contact in the event of an emergency in any circumstance when either party is uncomfortable with relaying that message to the front desk to touch on what Caitlyn mentioned the uh sources of strength leadership program that was recently created to improve students mental health wouldn't be as effective if this policy were put into place as students wouldn't
054have to worry about matters concerning their lives outside of school even more more without proper access to cell phones therapists couldn't be texted and contacted when needed which takes a heavy toll on students mental health we as students understand the severity of this situation which is why we have come to this meeting today we understand that something needs to be done but it could potentially come off as a bit hypocritical to attempt to prepare students for adulthood and teachers responsibility while simultaneously revoking our ability to use cellones as a whole the best way to become responsible is to make decisions for ourselves that will positively impact our daily lives this policy may work perfectly for students in middle school but as high school students we'd like to be given more leniency all we ask is
055that a compromise is made that we that being we're able to use our cell phones during advisory periods which shouldn't be classified as instructional time thank you Mark Flanders followed by Trisha morosi thank you uh so the first thing I need to do is just quickly address the idea that Mr Cross couldn't write this policy because he's disqualified based on his religious beliefs I I I think that's bogus uh if if that were the case then if any one of you were atheist perhaps we would say you couldn't write any policy that affected a Christian child or if uh one of you was a trans activist we would say you couldn't write a policy that infects a affects kids who are not trans or not LGBT we can't go down that road and say because
056you believe something you you can't have a voice uh so now I want to address some reasons why you might oppose Mr cross's proposal first reason you might oppose his proposal perhaps you lack the courage to take a stand against trans activists status quo maybe you think is the is the course of least resistance you may think that I don't think it is but you may think that the second reason you might oppose this policy is you might lack the good sense to see the harm that will be caused by not adopting this policy maybe you've been persuaded by the emotional blackmail of trans activists claiming that some things must be hidden from unsafe parents the third reason you might oppose this policy perhaps you know that it's wrong for for activist teachers in schools
057to lead kids down this path and cut parents out of the equation you understand how it will harm kids and tear families of part and for whatever reason you don't care or you're good with that now I'm going to assume none of you are actually that malicious or evil so I won't address that I'll just address the first two reasons starting with the with the second one we have heard over and over that students must be protected from unsafe parents and that this justifies going behind the parents' backs the first problem with this is that teachers are not equipped to determine whose parents are unsafe nor should they be given this responsibility I'm sure many trans activists would say that I'm an unsafe parent simply because I don't affirm I wouldn't affirm to my kid
058that they could change their gender willy-nilly that I have a different view of that okay even though I've never raised a hand in Anger to anyone and my home is a perfectly safe home the second problem is that if children are actually in an unsafe environment then the best course of action is not to go behind their parents' backs and have them find out afterwards that you conspired with them with their children to cut them out of the out of the equation and go behind their backs if you really want to do the safe thing that avoids the even remote possibility of harm to children then you would only use different names and preferred pronouns when parents of the child are fully on board that is the safest course of action hopefully the Virginia Department
059of uh education new guidelines will give you the political cover to have the courage to take a stand and do do the right thing here and I hope you'll Vote for This policy of Matts thank you TR Trisha morowski followed by Sandra Parks yeah thank you um before I start I'd like to just say there should be some guidelines about speakers attacking any of you school board members I just think it's disrespectful and unnecessary and I I think the majority of us probably feel that way calling people stupid or crazy or whatever it's just unnecessary um okay so parents are a child's primary and most important educator children belong to parents in partnership with parents are counselors teachers administrators also play in the role role in educating our children in Virginia though they do not
060carry the primary responsibility um they should not take over any resp responsibility from the parents schools should be in the business of partnering with parents and not hiding information from them the new model policy for Virginia schools not only protects our students all of them but also protects our parental rights Governor yonan's team did a great job using the Supreme Court ruling the US Constitution the Virginia Constitution and the Virginia code in support of parental rights in the new 2022 model policy for Virginia Public Schools he wants to make sure that all students have the opportunity to receive highquality education he is concerned that all students have the right to attend school in an environment free from discrimination harassment or bullying some of the comments that were given before me um seem to be seem
061to be Mis misunderstanding his policies he is not against anything with transgender students that is false there is a misunderstanding he is for all students his policy fully acknowledges the rights of parents to exercise their rights granted to them by the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution to direct the care the upbringing and education of their children in contrast the 2022 model policies disregarded the rights of parents and ignored other legal and constitutional principles that significantly impact how schools educate students including transgender students I would hope that this school board accepts these new guidelines put out by the governor which Empower students which Empower parents restore common sense to our schools and protect all of our children um just a few exhortations teachers thank you for your work we appreciate you please continue to teach
062our children Reading Writing and arithmetic and thank you for not indoctrinating them with ideas that that goes don't go against our parental belief systems parents thank you for all you're doing in raising your children in this difficult time please keep involved in your children's lives as much as you can and teach them moral principles students respect and honor your parents they love you and do not want to see you harmed in any way adolescence is a tough time it' probably be wise not to make any wise decisions during this time it's an up and down time one day you're happy one day you're sad one day you time ma'am I'm sorry thank you Sandra Parks followed by Lydia bordon good evening my name is Sandra parks and I'm a retired School librarian with 34 years
063of experience in working with children primarily at the middle school and the high school level I believe that we need to Center this discussion around children and around the needs and the rights of children children are not property they can't be batted around just like a basketball now years of research in child development indicates that a primary need children is to develop autonomy after all we are expecting these children to eventually make decisions about career and College and what they will do with their life they need to figure out also who they are now as young children we build autonomy with safe choices carrots or celery but as children get older they need more involvement in their own decisions and Central issues of identity become increasingly important and it's important to listen to the child
064schools have always always sought to involve parents parents have always been considered part of the team even if they never seem to make it to parent conferences or Avail themselves of other opportunities to interact with the school I can't tell you how many meetings I have sat through on how to increase parent involvement all schools have always worked to increase parent involvement but when it comes to matters of gender identity there needs to be a different procedure than just a cold call home we need to trust our children we need to involve trained counselors with students to share this information when the child feels safe and that's the ultimate respect that you can give a child is to trust their judgment about what is safe they know now Child Development research also shows the importance
065of connection students who connect with at least one adult have better mental health than those that don't those who can connect through through parents that's wonderful but not all children can and sometimes teachers can provide that Lifeline but with this policy and that proposed by Yer yonin which um strips even more rights from children and parents um it eliminates any possibility of lgbtqia students making connections with adults at school it won't be safe children model the behavior that they see we need to treat all students with kindness and dignity and to listen to their voice creating policies that discriminate against one group one against one group does not do that and I ask you to reject this policy thank you Lydia bordon followed by Ariana grim good evening I appreciate this opportunity to speak as
066a resident of Rockingham County as a university student in my early 20s who was in high school not long ago and is hoping to start a family in the next few years as I look around this room I am encouraged that despite our differences most of us are here on common purpose we care about these students before adulthood it is vital that children and teenagers have love care and support children parents will be in their children's lives for years and have raised children since they were helpless infants teachers and bless you for all you do are not able to fit this role parents need to be informed especially during teenage years when there is typically little communication between teenagers and parents being informed about their students will Aid parents in better knowing how to love
067nurture nure and support their children at home I realize that for some of you students this kind of Parental relationship does not describe yours and truly my heart breaks for you but if we treat the situation as the rule rather than the exception I feel that it will punish the majority of parents who wish to be involved in their child's life I also believe that during these difficult times in students lives the burden of asking for help should not rest on them instead parents should be sensitive reminding their child that they are there for them ready to care for them offering help and ready to listen to them keeping parents informed will encourage them to do this even more in conclusion we all go through some really tough times especially in our teens if you
068are blessed to have parents who have loved you and raised you all your life don't shut them out now let them care for you let them get to know the adult you are becoming give them the chance to be there for you thank you thank you Ariana Grim followed by Anna I I'm sorry it's uh looks like it's St s y UK K is that close okay lot of people that have spoken today have mentioned the safety aspect of you even if your if you tell tell the parents that the child is trans or something that could create an unsafe environment and a lot of the people have said well I don't beat my child so that so it's still a safe environment but safe environment doesn't just constitute whether you beat your child or
069not but it's also based on whether you support them and allow them to grow cuz I know a lot of of parents and like a lot of my friends and stuff have said yeah their parents don't hit them you know their parents are there they take care of them but they can't trust their parents they can't go to them they can't tell them hey I'm really struggling and I know I specifically sorry Mom and Dad love you if you hear about this I know I specifically I can't I can't go to my parents about a lot of things because I don't I haven't always had that support a lot of things especially mental healthwise I've gone to them and said hey I'm really struggling I don't understand this I can't I just need help and
070I haven't been able to get that help and so if you tell these parents hey your child is trans they're not always going to get that love and support that's going to create an environment where they don't want to go home at the end of the day or they don't even want to go to school because when they go to school their teachers aren't going to be able to support them the way they need them to because you want an environment you want sorry at school you want an environment where the the students are able to talk to their teachers they're able to learn and they and they can grow and you want a safe and healthy school environment but what kind of environment is that creating if when the student goes to school they
071can't trust their teacher they're not going to respect them because that teacher went behind their back to tell their parents something they weren't ready for their parents to know if a child feels comfortable telling their parents than that they're trans then okay good for them but if they haven't told them themselves then you don't have the right to tell them cuz you're potentially creating an unhealthy environment for them and I've even talked to a few of students that are trans and one of them has said and I quote school is the only place that I'm free to be myself anymore and taking this away will cause my mental health to get so much worse to the point I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go to school again is that really an environment when
072you want to create when you want these kids to learn and grow but you're taking away who they who they are you're taking away their identity and so then and they don't want to go to school they don't want to grow and they don't even want to be alive because a lot of Statistics show that about 80% of the transgender Community have attempt have thought about suicide and about 40% of them have attempted to commit it and the more you don't support these people and you take their rights away the larger that statistic is going to grow and I'm sorry about your last name and next will be Lenley Thorne that's a okay it's anastas I'm uh underclassman sophomore this year um hello my name is anastas members of the board thank you for letting
073me speak this evening today I and a collective number of ta students respectfully are gathered here to voice our concerns in reference to the draft jzk use of students owned electronic devices speaking on behalf of our fellow classmates we want to address the advisory being considered in conru ctional time I and many others speaking today hope to help redirect decisions toward letting students be able to use electronic devices such as iPhones iPads iPods cell phones and wireless devices during advisory though advisory is a Time given to do our work and improve ourselves educationally like any other class there is not a grade associated with it we are encouraged to do our work and it has become a valued de-stressing time for many students while some may argue students spending time on their phone seems inefficient
074and a waste of time most students would explain that it helps them recharge and prepare themselves for their next classes while lunch may be a great time to socialize and reconnect with friends it doesn't give students enough time to reestablish focus and recharge according to the research paper done by TR music listening and music making has been effective interventions to elicit happiness and relaxation improved attentive attention skills and has been effective intervent um and has improved academic performance alert um if this proposal does go through students can no longer access their phones for music so please consider giving us music apps such as Spotify and Pandora lastly we would appreciate understanding the distinction me between advisory and study hall while study hall is a Cho is a Time chosen by students to catch up on
075their work advisory is required for everyone we are struggling to understand why we can have our phone in one but not the other in conclusion while some students may take advantage of advisory in a negative way most students will use their time wisely and show and show my goodness and should be able to choose for themselves when they do or don't have work to complete we strongly encourage the board to rethink the placement of advisory being an instructional time so we can continue listening and music de-stressing and making the best out of the time we are given to benefit the most ourselves I appreciate your time and attentive listening and I hope our posit our position is heard and considered when you vote thank you so much thank you by the way I forgot to
076mention we have a petition that okay Lenley Thorne followed by Jeff B hi my name is Lindley Thoren I'm Rockingham County Parent any governing body that individuals the right to self-determination is inherently an oppressive one there's no confusion there should really be no debate we have mountains of hard data to inform us that we are able to save lives when we acknowledge and affirm the expressed gender identity of individuals violence and suicide increase exponentially when we deny reject shame and require individuals to hide the truth of who they are children are not the property of their parents we belong to ourselves children and young adults do not need the permission of their parents to be who they are we know that abuse is most frequently experienced at home within families this guidance is cruel it
077will further isolate the most vulnerable and already isolated young people in our Public School school system this guidance will deny access to life-saving support from counselors and other school staff to children who lack any form of support at home for more than 30 years we have known that efforts to reject the reality of gender expression have been deadly this extremist Administration either has not bothered to educate itself or has opted knowingly and intentionally to inflict harm on those it should protect how tragic to allow such a narrow limited fear-driven and small view of what it is to be human to inform our policy and steer us backward what credibility will be left for an institution tasked with educating young people that chooses instead to wage violence against them trans and non-binary youth are not to
078be merely tolerated or accepted the courage to discover who you are and then speak it out loud should be celebrated to any trans or non-binary people hearing my words I want to say thank you thank you for being exactly who you are for bringing a richer more honest expression of humanity into view we know the danger of this guidance we know it is a threat to your lives please know that there are a whole hell of a lot of us who are grateful for your existence and prepared to fight like hell for it I'm sorry sir I didn't get your last name right either so my handwriting uh leads a lot to be uh improved uh Jeff bolander okay and U I have Sarah Sarah hor will be next I'm sorry Sarah's next uh again
079I just want to thank the opportunity to express myself and uh my support both of the uh policies that have been uh discussed tonight the first policy on the parental notification the second policy on the cell phone uh as a parent of two children both uh had the advantage of attending workingham County Public Schools understand both of these policies I support them but also as a substitute teacher I understand the uh distractions of the electronic devices in there to the teachers and fell other students who are trying to do their best in there so I applaud the superintendent for introducing these policies for comment and I want to thank uh board member Matt cross for bringing a parental notification uh policy as well thank you [Applause] you Sarah HST followed by Ryan lisy hi my
080name is Sarah Hurst and I'm going to read aloud from sections of the newly released model policy on on the Privacy dignity and respect for all students and parents in Virginia's public schools released from the Virginia Department of Education very recently I believe that many tonight have not had the opportunity to read this document in full and it does directly pertain to the board's vote tonight um on the name change notification policy so here are direct quotes the Virginia Department of Education recognizes that each child is a unique individual with distinctive abilities and characteristics that should be valued and respected all students have the right to attend school in an environment free from discrimination harassment and bullying the department fully acknowledges the rights of parents to exercise their fundamental rights granted by the 14th Amendment
081of the United States Constitution to direct the care upbringing and education of their children the code of Virginia reaffirms the rights of parents to determine how their children will be raised and educated empowering parents is not only a fund FAL right but it is essential to improving outcomes for all children in Virginia the department is mindful of constitutional protections that prohibit government entities from requiring individuals to adhere to or adopt a particular ideological belief the First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees religious freedom and prohibits the government from compelling speech that is contrary to an individuals personal or religious beliefs The Guiding principles to this document parents have the right to make decisions with respect to their children policies shall be drafted to safeguard parents rights with respect to their child and to facilitate the exercise
082of those rights policies shall reflect the following commitments one schools shall respect parents values and beliefs the United States Constitution 14th Amendment provides that parents have a fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children as the Supreme Court has repeatedly explained number two schools shall defer to parents to make the best decisions with respect to their children number three schools Shall Serve the needs of all students each students's individual needs should be taken into consideration by their school and divisions should provide or develop policies that encourage schools to account for these individual needs with due sensitivity to the needs of other students and the Practical requirements of the teaching and learning environment four schools shall partner with parents parents are a child's primary and most important educator in partnership with parents Public
083Schools teachers counselors and administrators also play an essential role in the education of children in Virginia so School Board you need to vote Yes tonight on the name change notification policy it is in line with constitutionally protected parent rights and it also provides a policy that is in line with the model policies from the Department of Education that you're being directed to adopt Mr lisy before you start Sarah I apologize yet again to you I overlooked you and then I pronounced your last name wrong so miss Hurst I'm sorry I'll okay uh so it's Ryan lisy followed by Christine Jones Mr lisy thank you it is unfortunate that I have to come again to Broadway High School this time a year ago we had the shortest meeting on record lasting only around 7 minutes as
084the board unfortunately chose to close a public forum uh due to uh erroneous mask mandates and so um once again we come before the board a board that we have little to know trust in there has been no correction or apologies um for the the catastrophe that was rough upon our children both of my children thank goodness have been SP from this they uh they both attended private education and for the last two years here in our very dangerous Valley where not a single child died from covid-19 attended School in person without masks something that should have been the same for all of the children in Rockingham County as we've uh progressed through the last three years we have we have seen the CDC and other institutions fall we see that the peerreview system for
085many of our universities is utterly corrupt and that money is changing science away from its uh desired course of finding empirical evidence we also see this now again in our community uh when we talk about uh trans right issues or as we should note child abuse we have focused so much over the last 10 years on Words and on kindness and unfortunately so many have been intimidated because they uh because uh those voices seem loud and would call for compassion and wave signs that say perfect love cast out all fear it does and the love of children not wanting them to be mutilated is the very reason men and women must stand we must demand that words have meaning and that our children are worth protecting the ability to to go and mutilate a child
086is is absolutely horrifying the fact that we need to talk about this um is disturbing it is time for parents everywhere to stand up to reject the false appearance of compassion and stand for saving children from mutilation and as we call Child Abuse thank you Christine Jones followed by CJ Jordan hello thank you very much for um allowing us to give public comment um for part of my time I would like to read a statement um by a friend of ours from the community who was not able to be here at at the last minute who did prepare a statement so I'm going to read it uh in his stad um and if time is remaining I can um add my comments hello my name is James Maxwell comr I am a parent to three
087children in Rockingham County schools and to one who graduated this past spring I'm also a graduate of Rockingham County Schools myself and I'm a transgender man I could go into detail for you all about how having a safe place to be myself at school literally saved my life life or about how much better I did in school once people were using my real name but I really don't need to disclose my history to make it known that Mr cross's outing policy is wrong and harmful no matter what the governor says no matter what those who have never ever spoken to a trans person have to say this is wrong yes this would harm trans students and alienate people and that's bad enough trans people trans children Des serve equity and non-discrimination it was would also
088make more work for teachers who are already overworked and often underappreciated and beyond all of that this is a policy that coddles parents who want the school to step in and do their parenting for them if a parent wants to know how their child feels they should talk to them they should foster a safe environment a healthy relationship and a line of communication with their children this is not the job nor the responsibility of teachers and administrators it is baffling and laughable to frame this proposal around parental rights when what is really backing here is compassion and parental responsibility thank you um and I would just follow that up with um just an observation um from myself tonight um as an educator that um we have had some very wonderful um coherent intelligent statements from
089students who have come up here to share their thoughts um about a policy and spoke very eloquently about that and um It just strikes me as um ironic that um we trust them to give us their thoughts and opinions on those matters but yet when it comes to this one topic of gender identity we just don't trust them to have an opinion that's theirs isn't that interesting isn't that interesting that as an educational body how hypocritical that is so I'll just leave you with that tonight CJ Jordan followed by Cynthia Weekley good evening John 3:16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life good evening my name is CJ Jordan with City Elders Rockingham and Harrisonburg I come before
090you this evening from Romans 613 neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness Unto sin but yield yourselves unto God as those who are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God I ask you tonight with this policy before you are you being used as instruments of righteousness for God or are you being used as instruments for the world of unrighteousness parents and Guardians and Guardians ENT trust the care of their children for a few hours a day for instructions to learn they did not give the legal Authority for you to make mental and Health Care decisions without their permission or consent a parent on Guardian must sign permission slips for sports take medicines go on field trips and if you are under the age of 18 sign to
091join the military yet on such important decisions as this you would choose to discard disregard the parents and guardians or will you move to support parental rights if you wish you defy governor yonin and members here tonight of their careful thoughtful and Fai approach to this policy then parents have their right to homeschool find Christian schools and as faith-based groups we have the right to legally challenge your actions as well as Mount educational campaigns against you and policies for parental rights we are humans are not perfect I am not perfect but we serve a perfect God and enough is enough well tonight City Elders is saying no not on our watch parents deserve a say our children deserve better and we must be about our father's business I close with Philippians 1:6 and Isaiah 40:31
092being confident of the very thing that he which ha begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ those of you who support parental rights hold firm but they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength shall melt up with wings as Eagles shall run and not be wary and not faint I ask you tonight to be instruments of righteousness hold firm thank [Music] you Cynthia weekly followed by Dan Garber thank you thank you good evening I'm Cynthia Weekley I'm grew up in the Rockingham County School long time ago a long time ago and also I have family that attends now um by now you should have received a flower and a couple of Articles from me um I want you to notice that every flower is unique
093just like every child under your care and guidance as the Rockingham County School Board one of my first impressions this evening is why are we not talking about suicide prevention why is it all about we're scared to allow a child to be a child or we're we're concerned either way but why are we not focusing on Mental Health I don't I'm kind of surprised about that but I'm asking you the members of the Rockingham County School Board to immediately implement the 2022 model policies from the Virginia Department of Education the policies that we've had in the past um have caused even for example the choose your own bathroom even in grade school my niece has often well excuse me my niece has not been to a bathroom on school property for one whole year because
094she doesn't feel safe she feels like a biological male could be there she doesn't want to be in the bathroom with a biological mail um so how many other students are holding it because they don't feel safe on school property under your protection your guidance just just like these flowers I just want you to realize it's just every child is beautiful every child is perfect we need to in incorporate policies that will keep our children safe and learning the articles that I've given you the first articles well for example all these articles are about four young women that had by behest of the counselors teachers doctors had chosen to transition to male at some point they changed their minds and two of them had already gone through surgery they had mutilated their bodies but they
095they've detransition back and embrace their Womanhood I the first is Khloe Cole's story and I just want I think it's a very good one that you can glean from but the second article is also about the de detransition Diaries which is a documentary which has recently been released and I I hope that you will take the time to watch that so that you can understand that as children are developing there's so many questions in life that's just so common and I really want to urge you to allow parents to be a part of that equation as far as your decisions and I I fully hope that you will Implement immediately and extensively and uphold the model 2022 policies and I thank you very much for your time and consideration and don't forget the beauty of
096children thank you Dan Garber followed by Brooke Garrison my name is Dan Garber I'm a pastor of a local church I uh appreciate the opportunity to stand before you tonight I thank you all for your service to our schools uh we're better when we're together and my hope tonight is that we would come together and do what is right for the children children first parents are in charge of children now to the gentleman holding the perfect love sign it is my responsibility as a pastor to proclaim the word of God 66 books 1189 chapters and if you want to know what love is perfect love read scripture but it's not it's not good or even legitimate to misappropriate What Love Actually is Love Is kind it's hard read 1 Corinthians 13 sir if you want
097to know what uh love is my job tonight my hope tonight is to challenge each of you to do not remove parents from their rightful position as uh overseers protectors guides and ultimately the people who are most responsible for their children you don't have that right to get in between them and their children I don't know where this idea even came from teachers don't have that right as a parent I have that right from God as a grandpa or a poppy I have that right don't get in between parents and children and if there's some some misappropriate com misappropriated convoluted mindset that says you or your teacher should you're wrong you're wrong don't get in between parents and their children do what's best for them and doing what's best for them is involving the parents
098in the education process period thank you for your time Brook Garrison followed by Gary cardos my nie is they have an ant transitioning from a she to a he Amber to a Chase Dakota so this topic does touch me personally um and I've done a lot of research on it and it's truly made me understand that this decision is a gateway topic for more serious decisions that could potentially lead to irreversible body changes and as I sit in these meetings I hear the echo of suicide statistics and as I sit in these meetings I've also seen a lot of supportive parents they are often these children's biggest Advocates and supporters and I believe by keeping these parents informed as helping protect those children which also helps combat these suicide rates that they constantly like to
099um talk about I would also like to make sure that with yonan's recent announcement similar to masks I do not want Oscar to give recommendations uh based off of input from local politicians instead I'd like to make sure that decisions are made on the best interests of the community that he serves secondly I'd like to document that this is another opportunity for public speak regarding the Lea um uh policy this is a policy uh that's been published on their website where they received $10.8 million to push uh vaccines and masking uh and this is supposed to go on until 2023 um there are still kids who show up at school that cough because of allergies that are being asked to mask I'd like this to stop I'd like you to relate it to sleep apnea
100when we know all the a lot of people have CPAC machines when you don't have enough oxygen it starts triggering things in your heart uh so it doesn't operate properly uh I do not want this to be done to our children anymore um I've also sat here and listened to a parent fighting for mask because her child was diagnosed with AIDS after getting the covid vaccine our schools were used as covid clinics there are now nine pages of covid VX injuries that are now published and imun autoimmune disease is one of them on the possible injury so I would like to know do our schools and the taxpayers that support them have a liability for people that experience these vaccine injuries since our schools were used as clinics um also Myer cardasis is a a
101vaccine injury and it targets uh the youth uh vaccine clinics at the school were targeting youth to get these vaccines I'm wondering is any of this $ 10.8 million going to be used to supply medical equipment to sporting events to have on hand in the event student athletes faint and pass out um because of these experimental vaccines that were made at the school thank you Gary cardos is that correct followed by Carolyn cardos thank you I am Gary cardos a resident of Rockingham County and a father of four adult children America has been slowly brainwashed wased over many years by the liberal media with the concept that transgender is normal Studies have shown this is destructive to the individuals and their families my heart and love goes out to them and their families for this
102reason I am 100% opposed to any decision towards our schools that supports this destructive Behavior thank you thank you Carolyn cardos Educators teachers and professors like Bridgewater emu and JMU who have children will choose this area will choose this community for the reputation of our excellent schools I have talked with professors I had four children that graduated from schools in the area from JMU and they told me they did the research and they chose this area in the valley because of the excellent schools I want to keep it that way I am opposed to the normal ization of sexualization of our children I know of nowhere else that the love of family God Parents grandparents Community moral values and freedom is more valued than in the communities of Rockingham County our schools are for Education
103not indoctrination and sexualization of our children we will be silent no more we as a loving Community must stand for our children our parents and grandparents and the generations to come I was in education both of my parents were teachers my grandmother was a teacher in a one room Schoolhouse and my grandfather was superintendent of two nearby counties I'm standing up for them because this is what they would want me to do take action we must stand for what is right action action action thank you so much for listening to me and all the others tonight thank you this concludes our public comment section of our meeting I want to thank everyone for coming out that shared their thoughts with us this evening I know it's difficult regardless of how you feel on a topic
104when someone speaks contrary to what you might think but um thank you all for uh coming out and taking the time to do that next we'll move on to Highlights by board members I will begin with Dr mcil well thank you Mr Breeden first of all I'd like to thank the folks at Broadway High School for their Hospitality this evening we always see a smile on your face you're always welcoming and we appreciate the fact that you you gave us a dinner we thank you for that it was very good but for thank you for setting up and and being so welcoming to all of us here and the I really learned a lot about the fusion program great great program thank you my first uh after after the Broadway High School thank you uh
105highlight this evening is that the DNR r article that came out on Friday the 23rd of September that said that all of Rockingham schools are fully accredited I am absolutely thrilled about this this is what we're here for we're here to educate our our students and our students show that they have at least on this test that they they have done a tremendous job and I I can't thank the staff uh everyone involved in in the education of our students our teachers it it takes the village it takes everyone and thank you all so very much and my second highlight is Katie leir has started something called sharing the gold and highlights of of events that are have taken place or upcoming events and I really appreciate that and I hope that you all will
106have an opportunity to see that if you don't I'm sure it's on our website somewhere and part of that was ta's day Community Day of Service and this evening uh Donna we have heard what a wonderful job Broadway High School does with service service to the community uh Community involvement I even wrote those the little notes down because I think the Partnerships that you you you engage in show how much community means to our schools Broadway with with the course and with the many things you do and and ta's Community Day of Service and that's the way it should be we're all in this together thank you Mr Bri thank you Dr mcquilkin M lore thank you um I H thank you to Broadway High School for having us that you know I always love
107being here even even and I I tell the kids they have to look at my shoes to know why I'm here even if I'm here just to like help with cleaning up after the FFA breakfast or something I love being here so thank you for having thank you for always being welcoming um but my big highlight for the week or for the two weeks I was able to uh travel to the Big E competition with the FFA and um I can see oh first before I get into that big time uh how many high school students do we have here with us tonight look at that look at you guys doing government thank you all for coming and thank thank you to the audience for being so kind and welcoming to our students that that
108just makes my heart sing um but I know two of those students over there got to go at least two of those students over there uh got to travel to the biggie with me um and along with many members from Rockingham County Public Schools uh I even lost count of how many teams we had and how they did um but it bigie is a difficult uh uh competition for for Virginia because the rules are a little different they do things a little differently than we do in Massachusetts so um I was just super proud of how hard all of our students worked and even when they didn't win high and some of them did very well some of them were very successful and they were very gracious in their success but the ones that that
109worked really hard and didn't uh maybe get the gold ribbon uh they were gracious and they all learned something and that's really the take-home you know we got kids to have an opportunity to do some public speaking which after the that many speakers I lost count about 28 speakers um you can see how important public speaking can be so uh I just it always makes me happy when I can help students uh develop their skills and so I got to do that this week and thank you and congratulations to my girls for all how well they did at Big E thank you thank you Mr lore Mr Cross all right well it's a it's a privilege to be here at Bradway high school tonight and I thank you uh so much for opening your school
110up and for feeding us and treating us so well tonight if you give me a little bit more um volume on the mic I feel like I'm screaming into it um first of all I I want to say thank you to the community members who came out tonight and spoke and came to this meeting whether you agree with my policy or whether you disagree with my policy this is the way government is supposed to be and this is way uh it's set up for us to come and hear input from community members from parents and stakeholders alike and uh just because we may disagree doesn't mean that we have to uh hate one another and that's one of the problems we have with this generation uh that's growing up is that we can't uh have
111uh discourse and talk with one another and not hate one another and um that's what I hope we get out of these meetings because I've lived and I grew up in Rockham County my whole life and that's what I've experienced here in Rockingham County and that's what i' uh continue to want to see done here on the board I will say tonight that I am disheartened by the the acts of a rcps teacher in the audience tonight and how you responded back to parents and how you responded and me as well so I have talked to Dr um Oscar Sho about this and I will continue uh to bring this up as well it's very disheartened when you see employees come and act the way that this person acted tonight and that's not the way
112that we want to see R rcps employees act you can come you can have a voice you can say what you want to but you should be very disres you should be very respectful and not disrespectful to parents and to your bosses second of all tonight I want to say as I pass that I wanted highlight tonight that this is National Hispanic Heritage Month and I want to um point out two very close employees on that of rcps Dr Alicia Carell Clark she was a Broadway high school graduate she came here to Bradway High School when there were very few minorities here at Bradway high school and she grew up um and went off to college came back became a teacher in rcps became an assistant principal out at Spotswood High School where I had
113the the privilege to work with her and now she serves as our El supervisor here in the county and she is doing a fabulous job so thank you Dr Alicia Kell Clark thank you for all you've done thank you for the positive impact that you had Upon Our Community which is your community and I'm so grateful for what you've done in RCP the second person I want to recognize tonight is Paul delagarza and Paul has been in rcps practically his whole career he's from Texas he moved to the valley he became a teacher here in Rockingham County and I had the privilege to work with Paul as he was another assistant principal at Spotswood High School and one day Paul I hope to name something at Spotswood after you because I can't go there without
114thinking of Paul delara at Spotswood High School school so thank you Paul for the impact that you've had upon your community which is our community thank you for investing your life uh your life's work as a teacher and as administrator as an educator inside of our community and I honor both these uh Hispanic leaders inside of our community and I thank you for all you've done God bless you if you're listening tonight thank you Mr Cross uh let me just say that as we move forward in our meeting um we are very pleased and as Mr Cross just said it's part of democracy that uh we're able to have open meetings like this uh but we have moved beyond the public comment and we're now into a board meeting and so I just ask that
115as we go through these items that are yet to come on the agenda that respect be given um because there's going to potentially be votes cast and things said that that you're either going to agree with or you don't and uh but I just ask that everybody show that respect uh whether you whether you like what that person has said or not uh um as so as we move forward I would I would just greatly appreciate that cooperation Dr Shel thank you chair Breeden uh thanks to Donna and her staff for hosting us here uh Broadway's home always will be home so um that's where I had my start 28 years ago um one of the most difficult things when I became superintendent uh six years ago or f a little bit more than 5
116years ago was that I couldn't tell my kids um the day before I was announced back in April of 2017 I ran a half marathon with my daughter and Claire and I were running the whole you know 13 miles together and and I couldn't say a word to her and you know she asked when's the board going to make an announcement and um yeah so I couldn't tell her and so the next day I just texted her uh when the announcement was made now it's little now my kids have known for two years uh that I was planning to leave my position at the end of the school year hoping to spend a few months of quality time every year with my aging mother in Austria uh something I had missed out on a lot
117over the 30 years since I had moved to the United States now life has its own way of reminding us that time waits for no one and that reminder came in July when I was there for a visit and um she passed away while I was there um it was 15 minutes of of CPR and my own mother in the living room uh we brought her heart back for another day but uh she passed away the next day so one of the first considerations for me in addition to uh dealing of course with with that in my life was to then say you know now what's next um my entire um outlook for the next few years was to really spend time with her and um there are lots of challenges in rockim County schools
118for sure and it's never been my nature to uh back down from those um ultimately I did decide to follow through with my decision and to leave my current position next summer now being a superintendent is a 247 position um everyone on this board knows that a six year 10 year may seem short but um if you want um to know uh you know what the context of the superintendency is uh there are 132 superintendents in Virginia uh 50 of them have been in their position for less than three years uh the average tenure of superintendent uh these days is less than 5 years um in Virginia and across the country there number of reasons for that um but certainly um being superintendent unfortunately has meant having my kids referenced by name at board meetings
119um having pictures of me hugging my daughter at graduation reposted uh by strangers and at the same time receiving anonymous messages telling me that I better keep my family safe 24/7 because they're coming for me and so that's um one of it even my mother's death was used in a Facebook post uh to try to score some points in an argument I'm grateful to my wife and kids for supporting me um throughout this and there will be other people to thank here um even though it meant lot lots of missed family time and um it's time to make up for that now despite the challenges we faced I've appreciated everyone who came to me with ideas the School Division there are again again lots of things we can do better and that we need to
120do better um but it's also important when we have these conversations to no better example than the lalum parents uh who were incredibly upset when we said you know we might need to close that school they came with solution with us and it's been one of the most um interesting periods of my superintendency um but you always have to remember that the institution and it's important that we understand that that there are well-funded campaigns uh to discredit public education are known for accepting every child that comes to our doors it doesn't matter who you are where you're from bring to the table but you can come to our schools that's not true for every um school that's not a public school and this is why tax money goes to public schools because we do take
121everyone just to give you an idea of what some of the um ideas are when it comes to discrediting public schools because it's important again to remind people that this is in play and with millions of dollars behind it Christopher rufer from The Manhattan Institute recently said at a a speech at Hillsdale College to get to Universal school choice you really need to operate from a premise of universal Public School distrust so creating an environment where schools are distrusted and there's um opposition to everything we do regardless of whether it happens in Rockingham County um is one of the strategies to divert um tax money rcps is a great School Division and it will continue to get better there's no doubt about it some of the highlights for me and the school presentation earlier was
122a great example right we've talked for years about giving students a chance to apply what they learn project-based learning cross-curricular uh Governor yanan re recently put money in place for lab schools we've been um ready with a for two years now with a plan with JMU and we hope that um Governor yanan's uh projects for lab schools will find their way to roam County schools in the next few years uh Larry schifflet leading the way in that project is our assistant superintendent of innovation and learning um you saw the geometry and construction fusion class reading um it's had been at the top of every one of our Innovation presentations again uh recent changes you know we give credit what creditors do Governor yunan put a lot of work into the Virginia literacy act to provide
123uh public schools with resources for uh the um brain based uh reading instruction for the science of reading um they just recently passed that there will be resources coming we've been doing it for two years uh we you know recently I saw a presentation at the vsba conference where they talked about the four elements that have to be in place to make this work and how so many school divisions don't have them it's just a checklist for us that's already checked off because we have all those mental and Behavioral Health uh and again just like with um with uh Project based learning it's people who work here who have these ideas that become outstanding models not just in Virginia but Nationwide I'm I had a board certified behavior analyst come to me after I spoke
124at a school and said I have an idea for how we can improve mental Behavioral Health and I said CH come see me she went to her colleague her colleague said yeah that's what they always say they don't want to see you you know but she took the risk she came and and I simply said bring us a plan that's best practice not a bandaid and four years later uh we have a we have have a T Systems of support um structure in place that's being celebrated at National um conferences for mental and Behavioral Health and so uh Becky Hill shifflet Liza Kaufman including delegates wal delegate Walt and Senator Oben Shain we've hired multiple counselors this year because of legislation that they sponsored with rockim County Schools to allow licensed professional counselors and other
125social work psychologists to become school counselors on on um provisional licenses Korean tech ed what can I say about the ACT community and Eric Fitzgerald over here um the things he's done um to really every time he goes to a conference or to a meeting across the state it's oh you're from Rockingham uh the land of milk and honey when it comes to um a education to CTE education uh teachers at the FFA convention you know five years ago saying sometimes we feel like second class uh teachers none of them I believe feel that way anymore Mike and Susan Phillips locally here allowing us to use a farm while our students um run a farm in their act production program through MTC turn uh they raised you know pigs uh a week ago we turned
126um you know the animals that they raised into sausage links for Farm to school day because Steve Baker who sits on the uh Board of Supervisors in shannona County U is so impressed with the real world hand on learning experiences in Rockingham that he makes his processing plant um available for us and it's a model for so many other areas and again credit what creditors do in a editorial on the 23rd of September Governor yankan talked about you know talking about trade skills let's talk trade skills let's talk Hands-On education let's talk partnering students with manufacturers businesses employers to learn skills that need to be um work-based learning coordinators rcps already has two right so these are the areas where we are um leading the state and oftentimes leading the country coaching coaching our leaders
127Doug aldeer um as a leadership coach our instructional coaching again with Larry and and our letters team um these are the areas where we shine and and where we stand out respectful Community dialogue it's really one project I wish I had started 5 years earlier it's been an amazing group of more than 20 people who span the entire uh spectrum of political beliefs able to talk respectfully and you'll hear soon about um an expansion to involving 100 people across the community to do that I don't know what will come next for me but I definitely intend to make it a continuation of the adventure that brought me from a poor workingclass community in another country to studying at JMU to defending my dissertation in the runda UVA all in my second language to teaching US
128Government right here room 225 and ultimately leading the School Division hopefully my future will include some 14,000ft mountains in the Rockies a lot of airplanes to jump out of and lots of quality time with my family but it also may involve a return to the classroom I'm fortunate to have had a chance to do things on my own terms and having many options and just like my mother tell me too I intend to make everyday count I do want to thank all the amazing people I get to work with and interact with the bus drivers who bring students to and from school every day as one of the safest um fleets country maintaining their buses are uh mechanics who do uh who work wonders as I you know talked about at the last meeting when
129we talked about the the auction uh who prepare buses uh our students are fed day in and day out from the beginning of the day to The End by Food Service staff who were some of the first people to be back at work when the Community our custodians make our buildings the Envy of everyone who visits our maintenance staff keep buildings running past the lifetime of some of the equipment under the direction of Steve Reed office staff taking care of everything all the time teachers who accept students where they are who bring them along who provide learning opportunities every day who often times are the caring adult in their life and who do all of this to create a positive future for their students supported by par professionals who work with these kids in the
130classroom stay and at they out mental Behavioral Health I've talked about it counselors psychologists social workers board certified Behavior analysts Behavior Specialists Behavior Support assistants restorative practice Specialists all working for students uh mental and Behavioral Health um in our um pupil Personnel Department department and in our T Systems of support model our nurses who take care of the kids every day coaches advisers and sponsors of extracurricular and co-curricular activities every day they make kids' lives better when kids come to school they do get better our administrators who manage all this in an incredibly difficult environment Donna abany has a school with a thousand students put a thousand teenagers in any other environment and I challenge you to see what happens um our schools provide a safe space for every child our central Office Team Gerald
131Mass our finance director who's responsible for keeping this School Division on sound footing this school will be expanded not out the back like they told me when I was a social studies teacher but the other direction and we will have a 15 to7 million renovation without having to ask County taxpayers for additional Capital funding in that's Cheryl's work HR at a time when school divisions are struggling to fill hundreds of positions we have employees um across the board in every classroom who are outstanding and we were able to have a qualified person in every classroom at the beginning of the school I don't know how Michelle does it but she does innovation and learning I talked about Larry and Doug leadership academic support our it Department from running Schoolboard meetings to making sure that 11,000
132students have access to technology and to support that our pupil Personnel Services Department for our students with special needs our board clerks who've had probably the hardest time dealing with all the stuff that I throw at them um but thank you kit Lin and thanks to Pam boock the Board of Supervisors who is an amazing group to work with in support of our schools uh rocking him for a long time is at one of the top 10 uh we've been the top 10 for school divisions who are supported by the Board of Supervisors above what the legal requirements County Administrator Stephen King and his Finance director Trish Davidson who work with us year round to to make sure that we have what we need Brian Hutchin Hutcherson our sheriff and the sro's every day they
133work with us they debrief cases they establish relationship with with uh relationships with our students and um they understand the difference between code of conduct and what may become criminal behavior and they are there because they wanted to be there I know some of our SRO that was their career goal to be in schools and we welcome them uh Jeremy Holloway fire and rescue uh not sure what I can say about Jeremy other than uh we wouldn't have been able to navigate the last few years without him on the phone at our schools all the time all the time always ready making phone calls to families who didn't have um online access at in the middle of the night um or late um in the day with his wife um right there with him signing
134people up for what they needed college and business partners um parents grandparents foster parents everyone who works with us to make kids lives better okay we understand the importance of families right and so it's important um you know when we ask for people to work with us volunteer to come to a parent teacher conferences um it's important that um our community understands I've had some of the most amazing conversations with parents and grandparents um who initially said oh you know someone's coming in a suit I don't even want to talk to you and we had the most amazing once we started talking about um how we share a lot of things um with you know my grandparents being um you know a custodian and a warehouse worker and my mom being a secretary with an
135eighth grade education and we had we shared lots of things and challenges and then we talked about the kids students you know your community and you know your rights and I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of you that you came today to advocate for a change in the policy you didn't come with all nothing you came with a compromised position and you came with arguments that the board can hear and understand and incorporate potentially into a policy when I was teaching in room 225 I told my students I told us government go to board meetings and request that policies change and it's the only way you can make your voice heard and it's the only way the board uh will understand uh what you mean uh that's been incredible and
136for students to come here and advocate for policy changes or for some policies to stay the same or understanding their rights and and leading prayer outside of East Buckingham a few years ago when um we had the incident in Florida at margerie Stoneman Douglas High School and they understood their rights and they understood their Community uh nothing's made me prouder than to see our students I grow into um the amazing people that they are and I feel like when I retire I can be in good hands with your Generation Um it's been amazing to watch our students Schoolboard members who want the best education system possible in rcps for all the difficult and amazing conversations and for all of the work that has without fail been focused on making rcps work for all students um
137you will never know how much I appreciate all the work you do all the um conversations we've had over the years giving me a chance to uh work in the school Division and finally to my family for being there and understanding what it's like to live with the school superintendent I will end with a variation of a Dicky Fox quote from Jerry McGuire hey I don't have all the answers in life to be honest I I failed as much as I've succeeded but I love my wife I love my life and I wish all of you my kind of Happiness thank you you would think that over five and a half years I would be learned to go ahead of you instead of instead of trying to follow there will be much more to be
138said about this superintendency in days and months to come but I will say that it has been one of the highest privileges of my life to work with Dr Shel as superintendent of schools over a decade ago I think I had conversation with Dr Shel at a conference and we just sat and talked about all sorts of educational topics and when I got home I said to my wife I said you know I don't know if he has aspirations of being superintendent but if he does he's my guy but more importantly than that he has become one of my dearest and closest friends and that is not a 4-year contract that's for life so thank you thank you next we will move into action items we do have reason to or need to approve our
139minutes from the previous meeting uh meeting and if it be the board's desire I will entertain a motion in that regards I move we approve the minutes of the September 12th meeting as presented thank you Miss lur is there a second second thank you Mr Cross any questions or comments with regards to those minutes hearing none all in favor please say I I any opposed that sounded like 40 to me field trips Dr Shel we have a number of field trips for your approval tonight uh J Frank Hillard middle school going to the FFA National Convention October 23rd to the 30th 12 students to Indianapolis um also mavid Middle School to the National Convention 25th through the 29th again there's a difference in transportation so the that's why the dates are different five students to
140Indianapolis Spotswood High School theater March 31st through April 3rd 2023 100 students to New York City Turner Ashby High School one act team October 27th through the 30th uh eight students to Richmond Convention Center TSA November 11th through the 13th 12 students to tyton and Smith Island Maryland uh TSA National Leadership Academy um Tate Leadership Academy November 18th through the 20th 12 students to Camp panat tank Virginia panat tank FFA National Convention for ta October 23rd through the 30th 16 students in Indianapolis Broadway High School fbaa State leadership conference September 29th through the 30th 16 students to Williamsburg Virginia and I recommend approval of all those field trips thank you Dr Sho board members you've heard the superintendent's recommendation is there a motion of support my motion to follow superintendent's recommendation to to approve these
141field trips thank you Mr car is there a second second thank you Dr mcquilkin any questions or comments hearing none all in favor please say I I I any opposed that's 40 as well challenge Advisory board for 2223 Miss Stone good even evening chair um Breeden school board members and Dr Shel um I'm here seeking approval for the 2022 2023 uh challenge Advisory Board which is a board of parents and teachers and community members for our gifted education program I recommend approval of the challenge parent advisory board for 2223 as presented thank you Dr Shel and I will move to accept that recommendation is there a second second thank you Miss lore any questions or comments hearing none all in favor please say I I any opposed that is 40 thank you thank you Mr
142Stone um mou with The Rock County public schools in the sheriff's office Dr sh local oh I'm sorry gifted local plan you you got two yes I went back to back sorry there you go um so with some changes we've made to to using a universal screener for our second graders for uh gifted we had need to make changes to our local plan so I am seeking action to approval of the updated 2022 23 local advisory plan um that will also be submitted to the vdoe for review and I recommend approval of the plan as presented thank you Dr Shel is there a motion in report I move that we follow the superintendent's recommendation regarding the local gifted local plan thank you Dr mooken do I hear a second second thank you Mr L any
143questions or comments again hearing none all in favor please say I I I any opposed that is 40 thank you Miss thank you okay now theou Dr the memorandum of understanding with the Kim County Sheriff's Office so at the last board meeting um I presented a draft mou and again that draft is um in front of you tonight for your approval we did solicit a public comment on the draft and there were a total of 12 comments submitted um as as it relates to theou and there are some really good questions in those comments you know that I think can be addressed um here and I'll just make that brief some questions were about for example theou not really indicating whether a parent um would be called if a student ever had to be questioned
144uh by a member of the sheriff's department so uh one of our or one of our SRO and in the model policies from Richmond uh that's really not exactly clear and um our mou actually does address it and by simply referring to rcps policy um because um under the you um our policies also have to be followed so that's part of the agreement so sometimes rather than adding another three pages uh to just explain all the details it helps to just refer to policy so uh we have our own policy and unless it's an issue that actually involves the parent um him or herself you know where obviously law enforcement is not going to call first and say hey we need to talk to the student because the there's an issue that the that involves
145the parent um in other cases parents are involved they are um our our schools make contact UM questions about the escalation training and again our SRO are um selected by Sheriff Hutcherson for their willingness and their ability to work with our students they certainly understand um quite well you know that um in a school uh not everything is handled the same way it might be U you know handled in a random case in a in a community um and even there you know our Shar deputies have gone undergone significant uh Crisis Intervention training and uh deescalation training so that's a focus um of the SRO program and of the SRO trainings I look through all the slides um for the presentations that are done at um SRO training and it's uh quite encouraging uh again
146that it really is done to help our students it is prevention not um always law enforcement response right it is building relationships it's prevention and working with students who come from different cultural backgrounds all those things are addressed and our again sro's um do an amazing job and many of them were students in rockim County school so when I have conversations with them they will also tell me you know that when we were um teenagers you know um you might be hard to believe but we weren't all perfect right and so um our sro's really take that seriously and and work with our students one thing that theou does not address um is the number of SRO because again that can fluctuate there might be fewer there might be more and so the the mou
147is about how we operate together rather than saying here's how many SRO we will have and so um the draft of theou really um there weren't any concerns that uh this particular draft does not um address and so I do recomend approval of the memorandum of understanding with the rockim County Sheriff's Office and I want to thank our legal councel and also Sheriff Hutcherson for all the hours that they spent spent U making sure that we um had anou that is workable for both um agencies and I look forward to our continued work uh with Sheriff Hutcherson okay so we have a recommendation from Dr Sho for approval of the OU between the school system and the sheriff's department do I hear a motion in support I move we support sorry I move we support
148the superintendent's recommendation of the thank you m lore is there a second second thank you Dr mcquilkin any questions or yeah I'd like to comment on this because this is something that I'm you know we've had a waited a long time from anou from the Sheriff's Office to to the public schools and one of the biggest things that um we don't want to do is we don't want to get our SRO into a uh telling them where where they need to be at at what time uh making sure they have scheduled ual and things like that for the protection and safety of our children our staff in our Public Schools so I would just like to say as we go through this conversation or we talk about things like that that there's really no set
149schedule that they're at uh that that just that they would be available and um be about you know not just sitting in an office all day which I know they don't none of us or SRO do but it is important that the public understand that they can't have a set schedule like from 8 to 10 every day you're going to be in this classroom or in this spot because once uh someone has an understanding of where they're going to be at uh that wants to do harm to our schools they they can do that so I just want to make sure that we don't get into an agreement like that of setting a set schedule for sros right and I think the mou addresses it in terms of just working with schools and again because
150the number can fluctuate um so for example with additional SRO coming on board you know then that of course immediately changes how many hours each SRO spends either at the school that they're technically assigned to but also at the at the other feeder schools so yeah absolutely absolutely any other questions or comments all those in favor of approval please say I I I any opposed that is 40 thank you rcps lab school partnership with JMU and Community College Dr sh yeah you recently um had a presentation about the lab school model know Governor yunan has allocated I believe $100 million through the budget process to um universities community colleges who can start lab schools and again many organizations are still at the beginning they're talking about what they could possibly do um we've kept you
151updated on uh the work that we've done with JMU we recently also added a blue rid community Comm College into the mix and so um these applications are um they are accepted on a rolling basis enrichment and JMU is ready uh with the application again this isn't a full commitment um applications can be withdrawn um at this point again it's important to know there's no Financial commitment required from the school division either and um The Hope is that based on the work we've done over the last two years that we may actually be one of the first lab schools uh that Richmond would fund that would be nice um to recognize all the work that's gone into it and so um I would ask the board uh to vote for um supporting uh the lab
152school application from JMU so jamu doesn't have to have a board vote but I think as a a show of um support for the process um asking the board to um vote in support of J Muse's um and R cps's lab school application thank you Dr Shel is there a motion and support I so move that we follow the superintendent's recommendation regarding the the lab school proposed lab school thank you Dr moken is there a second second thank you Miss lore any questions or comments all those in favor please say I I any opposed that is 40 as well presence learning contract Miss Bentley good evening chair Breeden school board members and Dr Shel um I'm here tonight to talk about presence uh learning contract we have unfilled Speech Pathology position here in our division
153we had zero applicants this last position that was filled we were also not able to partner with any um of the local colleges to find any speech language pathologist assistance that could be supervised by speech pathologist this position serves J Frank hilard Middle School Broadway High School and our rcps students that are um at the minic school virtual speech therapy is actually common across our nation and across our state presence learning is um actually highly recommended by some local school divisions paage County the city of Harrisonburg the Charter House school I have spoken to directors and principles of those buildings and they um recommend presence um presence learning utilizes Virginia licensed slps and they provide onetoone speech therapy they also provide small group speech therapy they provide assessments and evaluations for special education and speech
154language pathology they attend IEP development um meetings they also provide gold progress to parents and they do this all in a virtual format so I'm um also hoping that if we're able to partner with presents that they could also help us serve short-term Services when we have speech pathologists that go out on different leaves for medical reasons so that we can help serve students in their absence as well so um the contract has been reviewed by Council and with your approval we would like to move forward and begin the onboarding process with presence in order to get these I services in place as soon as possible and again this is not to say oh never mind our slps this is because of positions that we have been unable to fill so um this is one
155of the options we have and it uh it definitely sounds uh promising so thank you for the work that you've done on this and I do recommend uh AC acceptance of the master Services agreement with presence learning okay you've heard the super endent recommendation do I hear a motion in support I move that we follow the superintendent's recommendation to accept um the master services agre with presence learning as presented by thank you Dr moken is there a second second thank you Miss lore any questions or comments Dr Sho was there any discussion for this contract with them on their hourly rate I see it's $76 an hour is there any do we try to that down some that's actually um a very comparable rate to what's being charged there's other companies that are charging well
156above $100 an hour for that and so we feel like it's comparable that is at 37 and a half hours per week um with Max cap of 55 students thank you other questions okay all in favor please say I I any opposed that is 40 as well thank you ma'am thank you thank you policy revisions Dr shifflet and Dr Shel chairman Breeden members of the board Dr Shel at our last meeting I shared um two potential policy revisions one was um in terms of the school calendar the school a ICI and the other was about U public complaint uh or complaint about curriculum or instructional materials and so um I presented it last time as information and would come back this evening to uh bring it to the board for Action okay I do recommend
157approval of the policies as presented okay board members you've heard the superintendent's recommendation is there a motion in that regard I move we accept policy ICI and IAC as presented thank you Miss lore is there a second um I second thank you Dr moken any discussion yes I would like to see if we could look at um is it IAC and there's a number six and it says the school board will make the final decision by instructing to the principal to retain modify or withdraw the challenge materials I think that's the way it should be however there's a second statement that is added and and the statement reads once the school board has made a final decision that decision will remain in place until the school board changes through the election process and I'm asking
158uh the amendment to read that we strike that because that is a pol that is true for any policy in the policy manual and I feel that it's not necessary to be included in this one okay Dr mcquilkin has presented an amendment to the to the policy on challenging of materials I hear a second to her Amendment what exactly was her Amendment her Amendment would be that we strike item number six from um yeah the red part that uh talks about that that would be the decision until the board changed which as Dr mooken pointed out is true for all policies if the if a new board wants to change them so the scenario would be that a book um that instructional materials are challenged it comes all the way to the board the board
159makes a decision the same materials are challenged the next day right what happen so this line initially indicated that that would have to wait until the board changes through the election process so there's some change however the board always has a the discretion to say that's already been decided so for that reason you know putting that restriction on it um isn't necessary there could also be cases where you know 3 months later the board has additional information and does want to take it up so um so certainly that's that's the reasoning behind it thank you okay is there a second to the amendment I'll second the amendment thank you Miss lore any discussion on the amendment yes but I don't know what um so if we strike this will that mean that it could be
160brought up again the very next week yeah I as I as I read it it it could be but the current board would have the opportunity to say that was just decided two weeks ago and we're not going to um rehear that process right now am I correct on what you're saying Dr mcquilkin I'm saying I'm saying that it seems to me that this statement is Superfluous because uh anytime any board could ask to have a policy amended or changed right okay but this does provide Clarity yeah other questions or comments with regards to the amendment hearing none all those in favor of the amendment please say I I I any opposed I okay that is 31 I think that was Mr Cross was you and I okay thank you um so 31 now we
161go back to the original motion for approval of the policies as they are amended and I are there any dis is there any more discussion on that okay the original Mo on the original motion okay all those in favor of approval please say I I any opposed and that is 40 thank you the last policy um in this part for revisions is policy jzk um you actually have a variation of what we brought for information the last time and it's based on feedback that we received from schools um after that those um changes are bolded and read and underlined so one of the changes um that we made based on school feedback was that we did include study hall so study hall was not originally included as uh one of the exceptions and um again
162study hall that is time where students make a decision whether or not to you know uh study or work on their homework or a number of other things and there are also uh situations where really in in an environment um where you have multiple classes for example in the common area of for study hall uh it's also really um not um easily enforced and the other change um includes the statement that alternative settings such as Rockingham Academy May Implement more restrictive rules uh related to personally owned electronic devices with permission from the superintendent so at ra um certainly there are good reasons to have additional restrictions in place uh depending on um what issues um come up there and then the last um one for now is um so there was a statement about exceptions
163to the policy for example for medical reasons must be approved by the principle on a case-by Case basis and and then I added um exceptions based on legal requirements in state and federal law do not require principal approval so theoretically there could be um an IP that involves uh personally owned electronic devices and the principal doesn't have the authority there to say now this is what the IP committee decided but I'm not giving permission right that's not um how that works so we wanted to make sure we clarified that as well um you also know so this is uh the the policy as um it's been modified and um I do recommend approval of the policy um as it is I know if any amendments are proposed that can come um after uh there is
164um a motion and a second um for the students who spoke today it's important to remember because many spoke I think or maybe all of them were from ta um that spoke and it's important to remember that uh what ta calls The Advisory period is in your case a fairly unstructured uh time period so it almost is like a study hall yes you can go speak with the teacher you can do some things however that's not true at every school right so for example at Broadway at Spotswood it's a much more structured time where there are specific activities at times and so I think one of the ways um if the board were to entertain um an amendment to the policy based on what students uh talked about today it could be that um for
165advisory periods um students would have that right based on teacher permission and that would address I think how Spotswood and uh Broadway handle it versus how uh ta and East handle it uh that again it's just to explain uh the difference both to a board members and our students you know why um advisory was not originally part of this because again there's some very specific programming at some schools um but this again um if the board were to entertain an amendment that that might be a workable one to include teacher permission uh for advisory periods and it would be lower case advisory because I think it Broadway there's you know this move towards calling it win period I think it's Spotswood you it's been Blazer block and and some from other ways that the naming
166convention works so but I do recommend approval for now of the policy as presented okay thank you Dr Shel so we will begin um by entertaining a motion if it be the board's desire to approve the policy as presented initially by Dr Shel I move we approve the policy as presented thank you Mr Lor is there a second second thank you Dr mcquilken any discussion I don't go ahead M Lauren no go ahead um I was just going to ask Dr Shel the one of the um concerns that students have brought to me is being able to listen to music on their Chromebook uh is there any way that we can unlock Spotify and uh Pandora well I mean from a technical perspective there's always the option to do that however um Spotify for for
167example does not meet uh the legal requirements for um that are set out um in uh state and federal law when it comes for example to student data privacy so it's not simp compliant uh there a number of other issues with Spotify uh I've spoken to the IT department and again uh there are a number of ways students uh can access for example MP3 files but um there's also you again we'll make effort through for example YouTube um to make music available uh to the best of our ability what the policy does is during study hall during advisory of course uh students would have the ability to use their phones and um we removed the requirement uh that was in the old policy that students are required when they're at school to be connected to
168our Wi-Fi it's un enforcable and so you know for that reason we never really made that part of the new policy anyway so it would give students thata ability Spotify or other uh streaming apps on their phone with using their own data but will'll also make efforts to uh work with students on making music available um on their Chromebooks where we can but Spotify for legal reasons is not an option does not meet our data um security needs okay other questions I would entertain I I would move to amend the the uh policy to include um teacher prerogative to include advisory in the available use um I think that ultimately so as to not get into any conflicts that if if that's being abused it could be left to the building administrator to set that
169straight so um that would be my Amendment if I hear a second so to be clear your your motion is to amend the uh main motion to allow students to listen to use their phones during advisory committee at the prerogative of the teacher correct I second that thank you any questions or comments uh with regards to the amendment I'm going to be mror tonight I'm going to be Mr down or my my kids are already mad at me so it's okay I have um my oldest son at Spotswood who doesn't like me because of this and that's I'm I'm his parent and I do what's best for him so I'm not in favor of amending it uh simply on the fact that if we're going to make a policy for for cell phones I'm putting
170that back responsibility back on the teacher saying you know uh yeah can we use it or can we not use it it should be a line saying it's this is the policy don't ask me every day when you come into the classroom and that's the what we should um that's how we I think that we should follow that so I'm not for the advisory I I understand for study hall but um there are going to be some teachers in advisory that don't want their kids on the cell phone because they wanted use it for that that time that it's spent uh spent wisely and I'm that pressure putting back on the teacher of having to say no um I don't think they should have to have that that pressure on that so um it'd be
171good just to have the policy that say during instructional time as we had minus um that's in the policy there minus study hall I'm you can't be on your phone so any other discussion I I honestly was opposed to the policy in general at the beginning when we first started talking about it because I did kind of feel like we already had a policy use the policy we have but in talking to my own son and miss abery and other students um I like this idea of uh giving empowering the uh the administrator to uh to kind of control the environment a little bit because it was being used as a crutch in a lot of cases to maybe not engage uh my son definitely was like I don't care as long as I'm engaged
172but um times like advisory study hall they're not necessarily engaged especially I think here in Broadway they're very engaged during win win time but I'm not sure that's the case and the students from ta made a very eloquent point so uh advisory is not created equally and it's it it's not um something that is instructional time at TA so that's my comment on that thank you and I would I would ask maybe to amend it to not the teacher um the one to give permission for that but it be the school administrator that would see be fit to either U be open for that during advisory or not that's so we don't put that responsib back responsibility back on the teacher that one teacher's hated and the other ones loved because they want to use
173that time for what they want to use it for I'm I'm just a little bit confused as to as to how we can not put pressure on a teacher to say no to a cell phone but we can tell a teacher you need to call an out a student I'm just a little confused by that is there a second to the amendment to the amendment okay very disrespectful and it you know I will say this I'm now I won't because I I I don't want to I don't want to I'm a Viger man you're right and um I'm not going to waste the Public's time to going back and forth okay any other discussion on the amendment which is to allow advisory to be included at teacher discretion and U for the administrator to have
174the ultimate Authority if that is being abused or interpreted for other classes all those in favor please say I I any opposed okay I I think that's 40 so the amendment passes now we will move to vote on policy the amendment I'm no I I'm not for the amendment so okay so so three to one um on the amendment Madam clerk if you can make that adjustment and now we'll move to the motion on the original policy is there any further discussion on that hearing none all in favor please say I I any opposed and that is 40 thank you very much next we will move to the yes so for the students because you're looking puzzled that means the policy will read that advisory periods are included in the so you can use your
175cell phone at the teacher's discretion or at the principal's um prerogative uh you just achieved something the students I sent to the board back in the 90s never did so congratulations thank you for your input next we will move to item I on our agenda and I will turn the floor to Mr Cross well this is taking um a long time to get to this process tonight and I appreciate all the input we've had from uh the community from parents from um teachers uh to um everyone that's concerned with their children's uh lives I really appreciate that one of the things that we had talked about tonight that I heard a few of the speakers um say was that they had wished that you know parents were so involved when they were teaching and I
176get that you know I was almost a decade inside the school and and seeing not much uh parent involvement during um academics and um all kinds of stuff but now we have the parents that are concerned and they're showing up they're they're voicing their opinions they're saying hey we we didn't know these things were going on inside of our public schools and we want to be involved with everything concerning our children and um that's that's the that's that's awesome to see so many people out here tonight um that you want to be involved in your children's lives it speaks a lot that you've sat through what where we at 9:43 so almost three hours you've sat through uh this meeting for this motion right here tonight and so I commend you as parents as community
177members of coming out tonight and wanting to be involved those are on the uh that oppose it and those that are for it thank you for coming out thank you for being involved during this process I would like to recommend this motion to be voted on tonight I understand that uh the model policies that Governor y has put out hopefully you had a good chance to read that and um it's it's as I've stated before it it protects prental rights they do a great job as Miss Hurst talked about tonight of the con Constitution that they site the Virginia Constitution and the Virginia code you cannot dismiss the Virginia code and and the Constitution and the Virginia Constitution when it comes to renaming someone's name it's just not possible so the only place we can
178go at in society today is inside your public schools where you can change your name and it's not against the law and not only can you do that but you can hide it from your parents parents who are your number one Advocates inside your life whether you agree with them or you don't parents absolutely love you and to take away that right that they sat down before you were born and discussed what are we going to name this child because names have purpose they have Destiny and when we take that fundamental right away from parents the ability to parent shame on us as a government that would would do such a thing and so tonight I present this policy because it's only going to eventually take place because it is in the video model policy
179and we have a 30-day time period and I'll be releasing that on my uh School Board um Facebook page along with other sites to where you can go the public can go and you can make your public comment uh towards what you think about the policy and so check that out we got 30 days for that to happen but we need your feedback as parents the majority of parents and citizens in Rockingham County agree with Governor Yan's policy and they agree with my policy as well when it comes to the name change whether you hate it or you don't we as a majority believe this is the right thing to do and that's why tonight I wanted to be able to present this policy even though the model policy is eventually going to be um
180U voted in and it's going to be what the recommendations to the school board to to follow I would hope tonight that the rest of the school board members M as the chairman for you've already talked about what what you think about the policy with your little dig again towards me tonight but miss lore you have a chance to show your constituents tonight where you stand on this and so I want the board to be able to show where they stand because we do have a very important election coming out in 2023 where three of you will be voted on whether you stay in or you're out and so this will give guidance to constituents and voters of where they would do when it comes time for November of 2023 so tonight I present this
181motion as presented for the school board to vote on this tonight okay thank you Mr Cross um for the sake of moving this to discussion and to vote I will second and we will will open the floor to discussion I guess I'm going to comment there are actually two things that I would like to say first is uh I'm looking right now as you may all have is it on the board no it says all employees are agents of Rockingham County Public Schools that's the that's the the collective that means if you are a maintenance worker under Steve Reed or if you work in the a cafeteria or if you drive a bus that uh you will you must tell the administrator that uh a person a child wishes to be called by another name
182regardless of whatever that change happens to be and that's not exactly what is in Governor yonan's proposal I believe he has limited his to teach teachers I believe that's correct and if I'm not have to have to correct me and the the second thing that I I have to say and probably is the most important I you all for coming and I have listened I listened several school board meetings and listen very carefully again this evening and thought about this greatly and I believe that communication and that's the word that I heard over and over and over again from people here this evening whether you were for this policy or you were against this policy we all believe communication between a parent and a child and the other way around between a child and a
183parent I can't agree with you more communication is key this topic that we're extracting from this policy and it's not mentioned in this policy the the topic that is on everybody's mind is a very personal private talk between conversation between a parent and a child and a child and a parent and I believe that's the way it needs to stay it needs to be between a child and a parent and a parent and a child and it goes both ways a child could ask a talk to a parent or a parent could ask we're talking about involvement ask your child if your a parent talk to your child ask them nobody's mentioned that why does somebody else have to tell the parent when the parent should be asking so the child needs to talk to
184the parent and the parent needs to talk to the child the policy before us tonight concerns me on several levels and I want to take a moment to outline just a few the issue I find most concerning is of that of parents' rights which includes all parents as an involved parent myself I do not understand how you do not know what your child prefers to be called at school after all the school is not trying to hide this information if you talk to your child's teacher or friends they usually call your child by name if your child has specifically asked someone to keep it secret from you then that seems like a problem between you and your child and not something the school should be involved in I would be mortified if I were to
185be called by the principal's office and to find out that my child to find out things about my child I should have already known and this policy does not provide for any training for the administrators or support the parents receiving this information I can only come to the conclusion that if you don't already know what your child prefers to to be called at school it's because you don't want to know and that is your right as a parent that's not something the I'm sorry that's your right as a parent and the school needs to respect your right to to be in denial a second issue is the rights of teachers there are currently court cases pending that challenge if a teacher may go against the wishes of the parents when it violates their religious rights
186which would be in violation of this policy since it mandates that the parents must dictate what the child is to be called furthermore this policy requires all a all employees or agents of Rockingham County Schools to address the child only by names found in the student record however the majority of our agents and employees do not have access to Student Records not only including custodians cafeteria staffs and school board members but also former teachers this could create a situation in which a former Teacher Calls a student by a dead name because they do not have access to a current School record and is now out of compliance with the policy I am concerned about the possible legal action that could result in a case such as this I am intrigued by the policy proposed by
187the governor and I look forward to seeing how it stands when tested by the court system I will be following the governor's proposed policy carefully and look forward to learning more about the Mental Health Resources it references thank you question because I know you have um I have questions two questions for Mr Cross and I know you and I have talked about this so these you know these aren't for as much our conversation but for the community to understand right because there are some um items in the policy that can be interpreted in a number of different ways so one is uh because again I see on on the Facebook um page Oscar isting You by making you think Rebecca's parents care that we call her Becky now you and I've had that conversation right
188your policy as it's written applies regardless of whether it's Rebecca to Becky or whether it crosses a perceived gender boundary if Becky isn't in power school then it triggers the same process according to the policy as it's currently written correct correct okay so I just want to make that clear so that's not me gas liting this is how the policy really would work um so that's important to understand so it applies to everyone regardless of whether it's as in the new model policies a nickname traditionally associated with the legal name it applies in every case um the second one and and I've asked you this before so a student comes to the teacher and and says I want to be called Becky uh teacher says I'm sorry I have to you know I can't call
189you that it's not in power school I got to call got to have an administrator call home and talk to your parent and then the student says never mind then never mind I'll just keep going by Rebecca so or again in gender Crossing uh perceived gender boundary Crossing names that's true too um it is correct that your intent with the policy is that if the student then says never mind I don't want you to call me a name that then the phone call home doesn't happen correct okay and that's where I would say I don't understand how the policy would increase anyone's level of information if a student tells a teacher I want to go by a different name and a teacher says I have to call your parents student says don't want that forget
190about it that parent doesn't get additional information the only outcome of it will be that if students believe that teachers will then have to call home that they simply decline to ask their teacher to call them by the name that they want to be called apply to students by the way so in we would have a classroom where all the students can call the student by their chosen name as a staff member I can't if that student doesn't want the phone call home the parent still doesn't have the information so the the issue that it's supposed to address um isn't solved as a result um as a staff member I have the opportunity to call the student mix Johnson an internationally accepted way of referring to students uh who are um you know non-binary um
191the last names aren't addressed so what what I um see in this policy and Governor yin's model policy is of course going into a whole lot more detail but in this policy as it's written I just don't see how it even increases parent information and it forces kids to remain silent and if you want to read the 95 pages of grim versus claer at Board of Education something Governor y can even uh put in his policies as being important which gives transgender students the right to use the restroom that alignance with their gender identity uh you'll see what uh students remaining silent uh cost them both in terms of mental and physical health um students uh being dehydrated every day because they'd rather not take any fluids all day other than to go to the
192bathroom and so you can read all about that and so again in my view um I just have questions where this is going to solve uh the issue that uh purportedly addresses which is parent information because the parents and I would say that it Dr sh that it solves the issue of honoring parents and respecting parents' wishes when they register their children at school and they say this is my child's name this is the name they are to be called and therefore we are honoring their wishes while they are at school and so that's where it all comes along and as the as the community can see and as uh people that are here tonight community members that can see this board and superintendent is not for parental rights and it's a shame now Mr
193Cross it's also true though that in Governor Yan's model policies um the parental rights do not get extended to parents of transgender students um because what that policy outlines is that uh students can be uh parents if they want their child to be called by another name have to file this in writing with the school and then uh um and a further statement um you know a statement further down it say but teachers can ignore that um on their own constitutional rights Absol is a teach a teacher's constitutional right Dr Oscar Dr Oscar I to Dr Shel to by the courts by the Sixth District appell Court that stated that it is their constitutional right not to call a student by certain pronouns or names that they do not wish to be called that they
194don't want wish to call them by and what you're also stating is the fact is that you cannot bypass the Virginia code and the and the Constitution of the United States to to to switch someone's name legal name you cannot bypass the law in doing so and so you're saying it's okay to bypass the law and to do this and you cannot that's what yunan um model policy is showing here is that there's legal stand ing that the school cannot withhold this information from parents because there is constitutional standing there is cases throughout the Supreme Court and there's Virginia code that declares you cannot as the school withhold this information and so they've clearly laid this out and it will be fought within the courts and it'll take the courts to push this board to
195make a decision my point was simply that the parental rights can superseded by the teachers religious beliefs when it comes to the parental rights and you added on top of that as well yeah often when we consider new or revised policy they are of an operational nature largely unnoticed sometimes as I believe the case to be with this proposal the policy being proposed could have the consequence of adversely affecting one if not many students and therefore we are compelled to stop and take a longer and more intense look at what's being offered up these types of policy proposals many times come to us as recommended changes brought about by changing political leadership in Richmond or Washington in considering these types of proposals I believe that two very fundamental questions need to be answered the first
196is do we have events going on on the ground now that compels us to act now I have asked of those for and those against this proposal do we have any documented cases where a parent or Guardian has asked for information pertaining to their child that they have been denied access to neither side was able to provide an example of this is happening in fact there is already an Avenue in place for getting such information I do believe that parents have the right to know about their child but I also feel that as parents we also have responsibility to know our kids to have conversation with them about what's going on in their lives and in their world statistics show that the amount of time that a young person spends in face to face contact
197with an adult has steadily decreased since the beginning of the 20th century to where it's at an alarmingly low rate today we as adults must reverse this trend and try even harder to know our children additionally it should be noted that around 10% of parents in Rockingham County attend parent teacher conferences at the middle school level high school numbers are even lower now let me be clear I'm not stating that we in Rockingham County have apathetic parents our parents give of themselves by volunteering thousands of hours annually to help in our schools and contribute thousands of dollars in support of its programs in that we are truly blessed from these numbers that our parents are pleased with their schools and not distrusting of them in addition to all this as has been already stated there
198are already legal cases in the courts that may settle this issue and the governor has made his proposal that will make its way through the process and ultimately the decision may be Beyond this board's control so the next question we we may want to ask is why now what motivates the bringing forth of this proposal with such a sense of urgency the author of this proposal has made it clear from the beginning both in public comment at meetings and recorded comments online that this is targeted directly at the transgender members of our community in so doing it places the division squarely in the crosshairs of groups who would seize upon this as a premise for legal action I have always maintained that the best use of taxpayer dollars is not in paying attorney fees but
199rather in educating kids even more than that targeting any way anyone in a way that makes them feel less than worthy goes against all that I believe that my faith teaches me another answer as to why now may be more subtle but it should be just as concerning why would a person who is elected to advance the education of all kids in the the county spend so much time trying to place doubt in the minds of parents about those same schools just last meeting it was stated on no less than two occasions that the schools were trying to hide something no examples just a claim should it concern us that at the same time as doubt as being planted about public schools that ads are posted encouraging parents to pay to send their kids to
200a private school run by that member's family in order to spare kids from the harmful public schools these and many more questions remain unanswered in my mind y I was recently contacted by a student who had a question concerning this policy they asked how this policy would respond if a student lived in where the parents were separated but had joint custody and who may not agree on this policy who signs who has the final say my response to that student was as I understand it as it's currently presented this policy does not address that scenario and I asked them if they would share with me their perspective on this proposed policy after a few days I received a response that I think sus up pretty well for me and this is from the student Mr
201Breeden thank you for the clarification I feel like it is a tricky subject because everybody's situation is different like some students have just little nicknames that come from their name that even their parents call them and even though their parents would give permission for that I feel like it's a slight inconvenience for the parent when their days are probably full of more important things things they have to do I personally don't think that there's anything wrong with a nickname as long as the student says it's okay because in the end the student will have to be called by that name not anybody else now it gets a little more difficult to decide the right option when it comes to transgender and non-binary kids because some of them have supporting parents who would be perfectly fine
202with giving permission to let their kids be called what they want yet other kids have very unaccepting parents or parents that just have no clue what's going on and honestly sometimes that's better for the kids's safety especially if the kid has an abusive parent that doesn't believe that any of that is correct I definitely can understand the significance of the decision and where it is coming from but at the same time I don't think it's the safest option for everybody nor do I believe that the parents permission for a nickname or anything else of the sort is the correct way to go about it other comments you told the child that Virginia code 8.01 d27 or 2717 requires that a minor with both parents living can only change his or her name upon the application
203of a parent and the other parent must receive notice and have an opportunity to be heard if she or if he or she objects to the change that's what you should have been your response as Schoolboard [Applause] member I will say that I have made the conscious decision and the commitment to myself that I will not chase down every rabbit hole that Mr Cross wants to try to take us down it's the Virginia Co code and I want call the question and I want to get back to doing what we have been doing and that's educating children you don't like I like to call the question question no you're not going to ignore me um you're not going to make a statement and the ignore what I have to say what I would say is
204we go by the Virginia code which is the law of Virginia apparently you don't like the code of Virginia or the law of Virginia okay the question has been called and because there has been such interest in this topic I think that we will do a roll call vote and I would ask the clerk to call the names for the votes and I would ask that if you support the policy answer yes if you do not answer no chair breedon no Vice chair lore no Mr Cross absolutely yes Dr mcquilkin No motion [Applause] fails next we will move to Schoolboard questions and I will begin with Mr Cross thank you I'll allow those who want to leave they can leave sure let's have order so that Mr Cross may be heard go ahead although tonight
205we didn't witness a changing of a policy or actually the adopting of a policy that protects parental rights that reflects the majority in our community I'm not taking I'm not dis hardened by this tonight because all three or four has sealed their fate in being on this board and so I am not dishearted I'm not downcast Ed they all stated within the DNR what their vote would be except Dr mcquilkin which I do appreciate that and I'm so I'm not disheartened by that I knew we knew where their hearts were at that's why I even ran for school board that's why I even stepped up to want to be a part of this board was because I saw that this board did not reflect the majority of of Rockingham County that's and that bothered me
206and it still bothers me and it bothers the majority that are out there in the community today and so I'm not disheartened by this tonight I am uh very excited because there are already candidates waiting and lining up to run against those who oppose this policy tonight and I'm excited to be able to uh work with the board eventually that reflects the majority of Rockingham County and that we honor parents inside of our schools you as a parent should not have to ask the school what my child's name going by we shouldn't have to we shouldn't have to beckon the school to say is my child being asked to be called by a different name that is the role of the school to tell the the parents what they're being called at school anything different
207other than what's in power school that's the way it should be it shouldn't be back on on the parents to find out whether it's what their child's names going what their kids going by at school and you're putting this back on the parent and and demising the parent and saying there's not parent involvement well what about the parents that work 12 hour shifts and what about the parents that work night shifts what about the single parents that can't come to school board meetings and go to uh after school events not everyone in this County makes six figures they work very hard and I'm not saying if you make six F six figures you don't work hard but what I'm saying is they work very hard and sometimes have more than one job to be able
208to give back to their family and so to put this responsibility back on the parents is a shame is a shameful thing to do and I'm ashamed tonight to be a part of something that takes away from parents in Rockham County Public Schools but I'm glad that you all are on record tonight because that record will be known to the voters when it comes to vote you out in November of 2023 here I'm not done I'm not done I'm not done it won't be many I also want to say tonight actually no yeah I have two things I'd like the superintend to answer and then I I want to finish with this so Dr cyel um tell us where we are on the SRO and the state grant money that the sheriff applied for yeah
209um so as you know um during the budget season uh we talked about um your request to add uh four sro's um as part of the budget um at the the time um we didn't quite know what governor Yan's uh funding would be through the budget there was a chance that um SRO would be required it wasn't clear that funding would come along with it um so we waited for that and um had multiple conversations with the sheriff in terms of you know what we should um initially um try and so um we are guaranteed uh funding from the state for at least two additional SRO we haven't heard on the second part of the application that will likely fund the other two as well so those four Middle School well again we have to
210be careful they're not Middle School SOS because they would also serve in in other areas right but they are like the SRO that currently are stationed where their offices at the high school these would be at the middle school um I also know that um interviews for uh four positions potentially um are starting tomorrow so I've spoken to sheriff Hutcherson about that um he has more than four um candidates some internal some external aw awesome awesome awesome and so um again once we once we know all the details but again I I would anticipate that um four sro's uh will be added to the staff and again um because we did go for the grant um it means at no cost to uh no additional tax uh payer money from Rockingham County has to be
211spent awesome awesome I I appreciate that update I'm we've we've hired three sro's in over 20 plus years as a division and I'm glad that we're seeing that we're I put in I asked for four additional sros in this year's school budget which was of $170 million next thing you know and you've all happened and U later in the year and so now they are needed and we see that uh they're needed more clearly than what we did before apparently but I'm happy very happy that process is started and the sheriff uh has more than four applicants wanting to be sro's because that's that's very encouraging as well because there is a lot of people saying that uh it would take two to five years possibly to hire a couple of these SRO so that's
212very encouraging to see that the sheriff is already got more than four applicants uh for these positions uh the second thing I'd like to ask you tonight uh Dr Sho is um do you know for sure I've asked you before this and the answer was no but do you have we uh recently and do we do the nurses in our schools have Naran available because of the the scare of fent fentanyl right now inside the United States they do not at this point okay no um that's an ongoing conversation I know uh Broadway emergency response um they held a workshop this past weekend um where people who attended uh could then get their one on nandos but it's certainly something again we can talk about and and look look into but no not at the
213current moment okay I I would definitely want to bring that up to the board tonight that we would look into this especially with uh what's happening in in our country and we're not um um we're not special to the fact that it could happen here so it would be nice to have these narcans available for the School nurses in case of an emergency that would happen inside the school where we wouldn't have to wait for a first responder to to travel all that way to get here when we we have access to Naran available at the school so it would have to provide some training to yeah absolutely yeah it's going to need some training to be able to administer that and we need that as well but I would ask the board that you
214would entertain that thought whether you like me or not uh that we would entertain that thought of looking at narhan that be placed inside of our schools for the safety of all of our children here in Rockingham County I think I can first maybe work with um Ashley H who supervises our nurses to see what that would take um you know what um are the legal implications for nurses for example for having it what training is possible and then I think maybe bring that information to the board for for discussion on whether that's a step the board wants to take okay thank you I I appreciate that I appreciate you doing that um last tonight I just want to say that um um although it comes as a surprise to many that uh Dr Sho
215was will be taking uh a retirement and leave rcps I want to speak to the division School Division and say that um we have many qualified candidates to be able to take this position inside of Rockham County Public Schools so I am not concerned um that we're going to leave a big hole here I appreciate you Dr Sho of everything you've put into rcps all the years of commitment that you've done here to rcps but I'm looking forward to working uh with either this board or the next board as well and to find a candidate that um reflects the majority's U uh um values and knows our community and understands our community and be able to reflect that from the top down and I also want to say something else tonight that that bothers me
216is because you'll hear this narrative from the left that says that um that conservatives want to tear down the institution of of School of Public Schools or we want to burn down the public schools uh by creating a environment of distrust I can't think of another reason of distrust when you hide information from parents as we saw tonight and so these issues can be really fixed easily and we can take away the pressure I don't want to burn down the public schools my children have to attend public schools the only reason why I have two of them that are in private school is because I get a little bit of a discount of the job that I have and for the and for the chairman tonight to say to to say a ridiculous comment that
217I'm trying to take children out of public schools to make my church school larger is one of the most outrageous comments I've ever heard before we have less than 20 students at our school and so we are not trying in any way now have we received some kids in public school that uh their parents are afraid of their child to come into public school because of things that we're doing absolutely and that's their right to do that but I'm not here to burn down Public Schools I love Rockingham County Public Schools and I'm not rich enough to put my child in at Blue Ridge uh Christian school or places where it costs a college tuition for them to go my children have to attend public schools for the most part and so I'm not want
218to burn something down that I need my children going to but I want my children we want our children in Rockingham County to come to school to get an education and Reading Writing arithmetic and history and not be indoctrinated or influenced by sexual ideologies or CRT or any social emotional learning that you may have come on that's what we want as a community and that and our and that's not being reflected within our school board now going forward I'm I'm going to continue to ask questions because there are many questions to be asked and one of the things that I that I didn't like about the last school board uh member that was here was that when things would happen they would speak to the community members as if you were children now tonight when
219even when I was called a bigot I didn't reach back out at that person and and argue with that person as chairman Breeden has in the past because in a in community di dialogue you're not going to agree on everything and when people get upset it's not all the time that they that they want to fight you they just want to be heard and for the majority you have have not been heard for a very long time and so that's why I'm going to continue to bring issues up I'm going to continue to expose things when they need to be exposed and in the long term Rockham County Public Schools is going to continue to be greater than it's ever been before and I can guarantee you that I'm in this for the Long Hall
220and I appreciate all the people in Cross in in Cross Keys in kelt toown in Gros in the Metta District in the Melrose district for all those in in Crossroads District who voted for me to sit on this board it's an honor for me to sit on this board and I'm sorry to the other districts tonight that your wishes are not being reflected upon the school board but one day it will be reflected I can guarantee you that thank you Miss lore thank you I would once again like to thank Broadway High School for their Hospitality tonight um and then I do have one question about your presentation if I may um I very much enjoyed the presentation about the fusion geometry class I know there are other Fusion classes here at Broadway and I'm
221wondering how many uh Fusion classes do you have if you can tell me off the top of your head go I think we have six six that's awesome and for those I'm not sure how clear it was during the presentation but in most of those classes correct me if I'm wrong but most of those classes the kids take one class they're in it for one class period but they get two credits so they get to double dip and learn geometry while learning construction so they get two credits and twice as much so it's really awesome so thank you guys for your commitment to that program and that's all I have thank you m lore Dr moken thank you chairman Bren I would like to say that tonight we have witnessed a to me a momentous
222occasion when Dr shyo announced his retirement as superintendent and I would like to recognize him U for all of all that he has done for the school system that I would like one clarification and that is that you will be with us until the end of 2023 the June when school ends in 2023 that's correct my contract ends June 30 2023 right and and I think that we during this time uh I hope that many of many of us will take time to thank Dr Sho for his service through um a a kind of a difficult time with Co and and all the things that went on and and we have moved forward we are from from my observations one of the very best school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia and part of that
223comes a large part comes from the leadership that he has bestowed upon us and and we say thank you thank you Dr Dr shle I'll pass I think I've taken up more than my fair share of minutes um I would just uh comment that um in the coming weeks uh the board will be announcing the process for the new superintendent search um I will be reaching out to colleagues to set that in motion and uh as has been the process in the two previous searches that we've done it will involve um members of the community as well and um but we will have more specifics on that as we have time to to draw that uh into a more firm um position thank you all again for staying with us tonight um and we do
224have reason now to enter into Clos meeting and I will entertain a motion in that regard I move that the board enter a closed meeting to discuss and consider the following pursuant to provisions of Virginia code section 2.2-fold meeting please say I I any opposed that is 40 we are now close meeting thank you all and be safe going home do you want me to keep this can yeah you can